


New Not Girl in Town

by MicroFox25



Series: Not Girl [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, Can you tell that I love Hermione?, Draco Malfoy Needs a Hug, Eventual Smut, Gender Dysphoria, Harry's trying his best, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Is it still Dumbledore bashing if it's in an alternate universe?, James Potter lives au, M/M, Minor Violence, Muggle high school au, No Magic AU, POC Harry Potter, Past Child Abuse, Racism, Recovery, Remus Lupin lives au, Self-Doubt, Sexism, Sirius Black lives au, Slow Burn, Trans Harry Potter, Transphobia, Trauma, Underage Drinking, because gangs are stupid, because technology, fear of physical contact, gang mention but it's not a very important plot point, mention of self harm, shameful amounts of music mentioning, takes place in 2004
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-01-09 06:05:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 101,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12270429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicroFox25/pseuds/MicroFox25
Summary: Harry and his father, after faced with a traumatic experience, move all the way across the country to get away from the memories. Harry, having to go to school, finds out that maybe life would have been much easier had he stayed in his hometown. Facing the challenge of getting sickened by people touching his skin, he also has to survive high school with the help of new friends, the hindrance of crushes, and a science teacher than hates his father, and the reality that it might be strange that sometimes his father shares a bed with men.*Updates are slow





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I thought of this at like, midnight, creating an entire universe in my head, so I figured that I'd write it. It's going to cover some heavy topics so if you don't like anything in the tags, please don't read it. I understand that I write Harry as being both poc and trans quite often, but they are my favorite headcanons, so I'm going to write what I enjoy.
> 
> Bad words are said that I hate, but it helps to portray her character.

"You ready, kiddo?" His father asked as he walked into the room. Harry was sitting in the living room looking at the picture in his hands. He could still remember when it was taken. His mother and he were standing by one of the monuments they saw on their road trip and his father had a stranger take the picture. They seemed altogether like a happy, healthy family.

James crouched next to the chair, looking at the picture as well. While his hair colour was red and his eyes were green like his mother's, that's where the similarities stopped. His father's hairstyle, skin colour and facial features all reflected onto his son. They sat there for a long time, just looking at a glimpse into the past.  
"We should probably go, you know? Don't want to be late on your first day." Harry nodded, carefully placing the picture in his notebook for safe keeping. Harry walked to the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. Curly, dark red hair was in every different angle it could possibly go, looking more like a bush than actual hair. No matter how much he tried, he could not tame it. He'd tried.

His skin was a dark contrast against the white tiles in his reflection. With a resigned sigh, Harry walked out, grabbed his backpack and walked with his father out to the car. On the way, the car was silent. No one had turned on the radio, so the only sound heard was the car's motor and the noise that wasn't filtered through the closed windows.  
Wanting to fill the noise void, Harry asked the first thing he could think of. "When's Uncle Sirius coming?" The man wasn't actually Harry's uncle, but a close friend who James had known for a long time. He'd always lived with Harry and his parents because, as Lily explained: If he was alone, he would probably starve to death. Last Harry heard, he was staying with his boyfriend, trying to convince the man to move with him. Harry, James, and Sirius had moved a distance away, trying to start new and escape the memories.  
"He said that he had Remus would be here within a week."

"So Remus is moving with him?" Harry huffed out. He liked Remus, but whenever Remus was around, Sirius hardly paid said attention to him.

"Don't worry, kiddo. You'll still have your uncle."

"I'm not worried. I just don't want to fight for his attention."

"I can talk to him about that if you want." Harry shook his head.

"No, that'll just be awkward." James laughed out loud. It was silent again until they pulled up the building and James parked the car.

"Ready?" Without answering, Harry stepped out of the car. They both walked up to the door, James touching the button that made a sound. Harry took the time to observe his surroundings. The building was tall, wide, and made of bricks. The door was made of glass, but at closer inspection, the glass seemed to be much thicker than normal.  
"Hello?" The intercom buzzed out.

"I'm James Potter. I talked to the principle about registering my son to attend school here."

"Go straight until you get to the double doors." The door clicked, so James pulled it open, ushering Harry inside. Through a hall of trophies, passing what he knew was the lunchroom, and through a set of double doors was the main office. Sitting in the seat of what Harry suspected was the secretary was an older woman, who even from this distance smelled like cat. Harry tried not to scrunch his nose at the smell, but it was proving difficult the closer they came. "I'm Mrs Figg." She explained, walking up to them and shaking James' hand. When she put her hand out to Harry, he just stared. "Uh, Harry has this thing about people. He doesn't like touch." She pulled her hand back, her face saying that she was sorry.

"Well, then. Welcome to Hogwarts High School." She said. When he looked her over, he noticed things about her. She was rather old, her hair is grey and wrinkles on her skin. She was wearing bright colours and it was almost as suffocating as her smell was. She wasn't married because she didn't have a ring on, so Harry suspected that she was a widow. "The principle, Mr Dumbledore, is this way," They followed her through another hallway, to a door. She knocked on it, then poked her head through. "Albus? James and Harry Potter are here." When she pulled back out of the room, she opened the door and let them walk in.

Harry wasn't sure what he should have been expecting, but this wasn't it. He was an older man, looking to be about seventy at the least. His white beard reached far down to his belly and his equally white hair reached to the centre of his back. His face was that of a kind and understanding man who has seen the best and worst of humanity. His suit was the tackiest he'd ever seen, looking like paint splotches all over the white surface. The tie was probably the only normal thing about the man, is a dark blue. His office was just as unique, holding posters of animals, most of which weren't real, fidget toys on the desk, and even some noisemakers. To the left of his desk was a cage that held a large red bird, which seemed to be sleeping.

"James. Welcome." He said in an almost mystical voice. He reminded Harry of a wizard. "And you must be Harry. Don't worry, James explained everything to me. You'll find no trouble here when it comes to accommodations, including complete discrepancy." Harry's eyes widened, and he looked at his father, who was smiling down at him. "Now, if you two will follow me, I shall show you around the school." Harry followed the elderly man, walking out of the office and up the stairs.

"The first floor is for rotation classes, while the top three are for academic purposes. The second floor is for the math and English classes, the second for history and remedial classes, while the top floor is for the sciences." Stopped on the second floor, walking to a classroom, where a tall woman was in front of the class, talking about something she was pointing to. When Mr Dumbledore opened the door, Harry heard a bit of it before she cut off.

"...so in this case, when dealing with the angle of- Albus?" She looked at the three of them in the doorway. She was older, but not nearly as old as the principle. her hair was in a tight bun on the back of her head and she was wearing very plain clothes, though a beekeeper suit would be plain compared to Dumbledore.

"Sorry, Minerva. I was just showing our newest student around the school." She looked directly at Harry. He did nothing wrong but still felt like he should be apologizing.  
"Well, come in." She stated, impatiently. Harry was ushered in and placed in the front of the class, feeling out of place. These students were all wearing uniforms and Harry was still in his regular clothes. Everyone's eyes were on him. "This is Harry. He'll be attending school here starting..." She looked at Dumbledore.

"Starting today, if we get through the orientation." He looked around at the overly pale class. He only saw one person in the far back who wasn't white. He also noticed how these uniforms held an emblem of the school, but some of them were different colours. Half of the class was blue while the other half was green.

"Introduce yourself." His father told him. He swallowed, picking a specific spot on the wall in the back to look at rather than anyone's face.

"My name is Harry. My father, uncle, and I just moved here. I'm not a fan of sports, chess, or skin contact and I have a pet owl named Hedwig." There was a collective whisper among the students before Minerva shushed them. One girl in the back raised her hand.

Minerva sighed. "Pansy?"

"What do you mean, you're not a fan of skin contact?" Harry shared in Minerva's sigh.

"I don't like when people touch me. it feels gross to me. As long as no one touches my skin, it should be a problem." a boy this time raised his hand.

"Terry."

"Why do you look like a girl?" Harry felt his blood draining from his body and snuck a glance at his father, who was nodding encouragingly at him.

"Genetics, I suppose. I was told I get it from my mother." James smiled at him as another girl raised her hand. Without even being called on, she spoke.

"Is that a scar on your head?" Harry instantly raised his hand to his forehead, feeling the ridges on his scar.

"Yea. I got it when I was in a car crash."

"That's enough questions," Minerva said, to Harry's pleasure. "I'm sure Harry wants to get through the day." She silently thanked her, walking back. close to her father. The next class was English, which was taught by a rather short man who was standing on his desk. Harry looked around at the class of blue and green students, but everyone was acting as if this was an everyday display. Apparently, Mr Flitwick was normal standing on his desk.

On the next floor, the history teacher, Mr Binns was drawling on with a monotone voice, barely aware that Harry had walked into the room. Half of his class was asleep, the other half wasn't even paying attention. Some were talking and some were doing other work. On the last floor, Harry noticed, for once, that the students weren't green or blue, but rather red and yellow.

"Mr Snape," Dumbledore stated as he walked through the door, catching the man who was standing at the front of the class. His hair seemed to be more grease than actual hair and he had a rather large hooked nose and a scowl directed at Harry.

"Who is this, then?" He snapped, causing Harry to reel back. Dumbledore seemed not to notice as he went on smiling.

"This is Harry. He'll be starting his classes soon." When James finally walked into the room- he had been looking at something in the hall- Mr Snape's eyes snapped to the man.  
"James Potter." He seethed. James looked up, surprised, before squinting his eyes. His eyes widened, almost comically.

"Severus Snape." He put on the fakest smile that Harry had ever seen on the man's face. "You became a teacher? I thought you were going to be a rocket scientist or something. Did you really flunk out of that?" The class gave a chuckle, to which Snape turned to them, scowling, which shut them up. 

"For your information, James Potter, I chose this job."

"Right." Harry's father sighed, disbelief obvious in his voice. Harry nudged him none too gently in the side with his elbow. "What?"

"He's going to be my teacher. Could you at least try and control yourself?" Snape's eyes fell to Harry again, looking from his eyes to his hair.

"I see she decided to keep with you, even going as far s to have a kid." Harry felt darkness pass over himself, looking down to the floor. When he looked up at his father, his jaw was tight, and his eyes were hard.

"Anyways, Mr Dumbledore. You were showing us around?" They walked back out, James keeping close to Harry. Harry looked at his father's face as they walked down the stairs.  
"Did you know him, Dad?"

"We went to school together. It's nothing." On the first floor, he was introduced to several people and classes, including Ms Sprout with cooking class, Mr Hagrid with life science, Mr Quirrel with woodworking, Ms. Hooch in physical education, and Mrs Sinistra in art. Back in Dumbledore's office, Harry sat for the first time since the car ride.  
"Now, once you get used to the schedule, it'll be simple, but at first, it can be difficult. There are four different colours, as you may have noticed. They all have different schedules. A few years ago, the students made names for the colours and we've adopted them. each colour has three different classes. Blue is Ravenclaw, red is Gryffindor, green is Slytherin, and yellow is Hufflepuff. You have Ravenclaw one, two, and three then Gryffindor, one, two, and three and so on. Some of the classes are, of course, shared between colours." Harry's head was swirling with trying to get all of this in his head straightened out. "In the beginning of the year, we take all of the student's names, mix them up then split them into four groups then split those into three groups." He nodded, finally understanding. "Since there is room from a shorter list of students this year, I'll let you choose. Red or green?" Harry thought for a long minute. What's the difference, really?

"Red, I guess." Harry was given the insignias that would soon be patched into his uniform.

"You'll be required to wear a uniform when you come, the only exception will be on days where you're allowed to wear street clothes." Harry nodded, looking at his father, who was looking at the floor. "You can start tomorrow if you wish. It will not be counted against you if you miss today." She waited for an answer, but James never moved. Harry touched his sleeve, pulling him to attention.

"Huh?"

"Can I go home or do you want me to start today?"

"We'll go home, I suppose." Dumbledore clapped his hands."

"Great. That will give us time to work through everything. Well, Harry Potter, I will see you tomorrow morning, bright and early."

* * *

When they walked into the door, hands went around his waist and Harry was picked up and thrown over a shoulder, causing him to yell. he barely had time to pull of his backpack. "Sirius! I thought you would be a while." Harry said from his shoulder."

"Initially, we were going to be, we wanted to be here for your first day of school."

"That's cool. Can you put me down?"

"Nope!" Harry sighed, resting his head on his hand, elbow going into Sirius' shoulder as he as carried into the kitchen that was put away entirely. Through the kitchen, and out the back door, Harry was tossed and screamed as he was thrown into the pool, having to swim to the side.

"Sirius!" He pulled himself out, sputtering as he did. He hated wearing wet clothes.

  
"Sorry, Kid, I just couldn't resist." Harry, slightly irritated, walked to the edge where Sirius was standing and grabbed Sirius' shirt as he fell back, pulling the man into the pool as well, with flailing arms. When Harry breached the surface, he wiped the hair out from his face, looking up to see Remus and James staring.

When Sirius breached, his hair looking more like a dead animal than actual hair, Harry pointed at him. "He started it." When Harry walked into his bathroom, tracking water over the linoleum as he walked, he was in front of a full body mirror. He pulled off his shirt, ringing it out in the bathtub before stripping his pants and doing the same. Now, standing in front of the mirror in his underclothes, he swallowed thickly.

He hated seeing his body. Reaching up, he pulled down the zipper before sliding out of his binder. it needed to dry if he was going to manage to go to school tomorrow. Harry locked the bathroom door, stepping into the shower to wash the cold away. The water stung at first but soothed away the ache that the cold put on his muscles. He stayed there under the spray of the water for a long time before washing himself and pulling out of the shower, grabbing a towel. once dry, he pulled on a loose long sleeve shirt and loose grey shorts, walking to the kitchen.

Sirius was talking to Remus as they made food. "Smells great, what is it?"

"I'm making something from your grandmother's recipes." Remus cleared his throat. "Okay, he's making it and I'm making sure to stay out of the way while he works." Harry laughed, walking forward. "Dad doesn't pull these out often. Usually, we just get takeaway. What's the change?" He looked at Sirius.

Sirius Black was rather tall, being at least six feet tall. He had quite long black hair and tattoos and his left ear had more piercings than Harry had seen in three people together. He always wore a leather jacket and had a motorbike. Harry had counted the tattoos before and it came up to thirty-seven altogether. He had a few more while he was in prison. He doesn't like talking about it, but Harry knew that he was in their on false charges. Those five years were the loneliest that the Potter's had ever experienced. When he came out, he was... different. He stayed in his room all day for a really long time and he was very quiet. When James had all but pulled him out of his isolation, he started to go out more often, until he met Remus and they'd been together ever since. Remus didn't care that he was in prison or that he had more metal in his ears than skin or that he had upwards of fifty tattoos by now. James had said that Remus liked Sirius for Sirius, not his past.

Harry stole a glance at Remus. Remus Lupin was almost the polar opposite of Sirius. He always wore cardigans and didn't have any tattoos or piercings. He had short sandy blond hair and had some old scars all over his body. Sirius had said that when Remus was younger, he was attacked by an animal, but Harry knew what the scars actually were. He'd seen the same scars on a girl from his old school who had to be taken to the hospital. She was kept there for a long time because she kept hurting herself. Remus liked to read and slept in too late on Saturdays and drank nothing but tea and liked chocolate more than life itself, but not as much as Sirius. That meant that he also liked Sirius better than life. Remus once said that if he had to choose between Sirius and breathing, he was probably a hostage in a horror movie so he wouldn't survive anyway, so it wouldn't even matter if he chose Sirius.

"It's something called Tandoori Chicken. Apparently, your father loved it as a child."

"Can't wait to try it." Harry started to walk away, towards the living room.

"Oh, Harry." He looked back. "Dr Pomfrey called. Whenever you're ready to meet her, just tell James and he can make an appointment." Harry nodded, walking to the room where his father was on the floor, looking at CDs. Harry sat next to him, sitting cross-legged. "So, kiddo, what should we listen to? Old, but gold with Queen? Harry looked through the selection of music. He had all types of music from different genres, times, and countries.

Looking through the rock, he listed off the selections in his head. Muse, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Radiohead. "Here." Harry said, pulling out the disk. James looked over it.

"Blink-182?" Harry nodded, packing the rest of the CDs into the box. James shrugged and put the disk in, pressing play. From the kitchen, Sirius let out a loud laugh. James and Harry shared a look. "I think he heard it." Harry snorted. Harry sat down on the couch next to James. "C'mere." James leaned his head on Harry's, making him laugh. "When do you want to talk to Dr Pomfrey?"

"Maybe on Wednesdays." James nodded his head.

"I'll call her tomorrow." Dr Pomfrey was a new person in Harry's life. He used to go to a doctor before, but he was transferred to her when they moved. "So, how do you like the school?"

"It's big. I've never been anywhere so big." James chuckled. After they ate- it was delicious- Harry sat with Sirius while Remus attached the patch to his uniform. They both watched his hands as they worked with more skill with this than Harry had in his whole body.

James came out of his room with a box in his hand. "This was a gift that Sirius and I had to choose on because your uncle Sirius figured that you'd want something bigger. It's for your new year." Harry's eyebrows scrunched up, looking at his father. He opened the box, pulling out two things. One was a phone and the other was a music player. The flip phone was silver and thin and the music player was small and square. "There's already a ton of music on it, so if you want more, all you have to do is ask." Harry looked from Sirius to his father.

"Thank you! Thank you so much."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit* I made a grammatical error in this chapter so I fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out.


	2. Chapter 2

In the morning, Harry was shaken awake by James. "C'mon, kiddo. You gotta get up for school." Harry curled in on himself, pulled the blanket over his head. "Harry, come on." He only made a grumbling noise. "I'll get Sirius in here to get you up."

Harry sat up faster than he could even process what his father had said. He scowled.

"You wouldn't dare." James just smiled.

"I don't have to, you're awake," Harry grumbled, pulling the blanket off and pulling himself out of the bed. James walked away, so Harry walked to his bathroom, picking up his binder. Sort of stiff, but dry. Harry opened the mirror, revealing a small cabinet. Pulling out baby powder, he shook some out on the surface of the binder before shaking it out, making the material softer. Zipping it up, he pulled on a tank top before pulling on his uniform shirt. After that came the uniform's pants, then the jacket. He noticed that the cloth was pressed and ironed and he thought about reminding himself to thank Remus later. Trying to tame his hair proved futile. No matter what he did, it was crazier than the time before. Sighing, he walked out, filling the food of his snow owl before petting down her feathers. She snapped her beak at him. He picked up his bag and making his way to the kitchen. Sirius was already at the table giving a yawn before drinking coffee out of the cup that said Second Dad. He laughed as he sat down.

"Are you ever not going to use that cup?" He asked as he served himself bacon and eggs. Sirius looked at the cup, then up at Harry.

"Hey, my godson got this for me for Christmas in second grade. You don't like it, talk to him about it."

"Well it's been a few years, maybe your godson needs to get you a different cup."

"Not like I would actually use it. I like this one." Harry rolled his eyes, looking over to see James walking into the room.

"Well hello, sleep monster." Sirius snorted into his cup.

"Hey." Harry swallowed his mouthful. "Can we go look around town? I want to look around to know where I'll be living." James looked thoughtful as he sat down.

"I don't see why not. Sirius? You and Remus want to join?"

"I'll have to ask him when he gets up. He's had some trouble sleeping."

"Why not sleep in different beds then? It can't be too comfortable to not have the whole bed to yourself."

"I don't think that's the problem, kid. He's always had problems sleeping, that's all."

"Oh." Sirius sighed.

"Until then, we need to get you to school."

"We?" James asked, looking up.

"Yes, James. We. I'm going with you."

"No." His father said. "No, absolutely not." Sirius looked at his friend, almost scandalized. He scoffed, putting his hand on her hip.   
"And why not?"

"Because you can't control yourself. I don't want you embarrassing him."

"I don't mind, Dad," Harry explained, taking another bite before shifting it around in his mouth so he could speak. "He's not getting out, you guys are just dropping me off, so there's not much damage he could really do." Sirius made a groaning sort of noise in his throat.

"That's pretty solid logic. Put your plate in the sink. I'll do the dishes when I get back." Harry did as he was told then picked up his bag. He walked through the kitchen with his father, looking up at him.

"If I'm allowed, can I have a messenger bag? Those look cooler."

"Sure. Today, we can buy one if we find it. C'mon, Sirius." The man in question was still in the kitchen, looking like someone insulted him. "If you don't come quickly, Harry gets the front seat." There was a loud shuffling and Sirius was right behind them, following closely.

"You know how to motivate everyone, don't you?"

"It's a father thing, I think." James locked the front door and they all walked to the driveway where the car was.

"You're not Sirius' father."

"He's like a child, so it's pretty much the same thing." Harry pulled the door open, sitting down and pulling the seatbelt on.

"I'm starting to get a sense of betrayal, you jerks."

"Sorry, Sirius, you make it too easy." Sirius scoffed again, looking out the window.

"So, Harry."

"Yea?"

"Do you have your phone?" Harry nodded. "Music player?"

"Of course."

"You have your game player?" Harry purposely looked away from the face of his father. "I'll take that as a yes." James pulled out of the driveway and began to drive. Sirius, easy to forgive, turned around in his seat, looking at Harry.

"So, what did you think about the school so far?"

"It seems pretty good. Like, there are four colours for students to be assigned to..." Harry spent the rest of the car ride to the school. When James pulled to a stop, Harry unbuckled himself and opened the door. "Thanks, dad."

"I'll come get you when school is over. Sirius may or may not be here. That depends on whether or not he's being babied by Remus."

"Hey!" Sirius snapped, which caused Harry to laugh out loud. He shut the door and began walking to the door they had walked in before, walking straight to the office. Mrs Figg told him to wait in the lunch room and when the bell rings, go back and get his schedule. Walking out, he noticed that hardly anyone was there.

The tables were round and each had anywhere from three to seven chairs with them. He picked the closest empty one and sat down, pulling out his music player. putting it on shuffle and pulling out his sketchpad, he began to draw.

When someone touched his shoulder- luckily clothed- he jumped and ripped the headphones off, turning around. "Why are you sitting- oh, you're not- oh, I'm sorry." The girl had large bushy brown hair, brown eyes, and skin darker than Harry's. The insignia was red, just like his, but she was wearing a skirt rather than pants. "I'm sorry. I only saw you from the back and your hair is... I was looking for my friend, Ron. He has red hair as well. I'm Hermione Granger." She pushed her hand out in a request to shake it, but Harry just kept looking at her face, pretending not to see it. She pulled her hand away.

"Harry Potter."

"Oh!" She exclaimed, putting her hand to her forehead. "You're the new kid. I heard about you yesterday when your father insulted Mr Snape." Harry let out a chuckle. "What rotation do you have?" He raised his eyebrow at her. "Gryffindor one, two, or three?"

"Haven't gotten my schedule yet. I'll get it when the bell rings."

"That's alright. Can I sit?"

"Sure." She pulled the chair away from the table, sitting on it, crossing her legs.

"So where did you come from?"

"Across the country."

"Why did you move?"

He hesitated. "My... uh... my mother." She leaned in, paying attention. Harry scratched at a spot on his neck.

"Did she and your father get a divorce?"

"She died." Hermione sucked in a breath through plump lips. "She got into a car wreck."

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said, reaching out to put her hand on Harry's knee. Almost instinctively, he pulled away from her touch, standing up and causing the chair to scrape loudly against the floor. She looked at him, then at her hand, front and back.

"It's not you. There's... this thing about touch." Her eyes widened, then she looked relieved.

"No touching. Got it." She looked at the door as he sat down, so he looked in the same direction as she was. A large group of redheads walked in through the door. There was a boy whose clothes were put together haphazardly, twins whose clothes were the same way, but it seemed more on purpose and a boy whose uniform was as pristine as Harry's and whose hair was slicked down with what was probably gel. The first one walked over to Hermione. When he looked at Harry, he put out his hand, causing Harry to roll his eyes so hard he rolled his entire head. "Ron, he doesn't like touch."

"Is it like a germ thing?"

"I don't fear germs. I don't like people touching my skin." Ron shrugged, sitting next to Hermione.

"Well, I'm Ron Weasley. That group I came in with are my brothers." Harry pressed his eyebrow together.

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Well, there's Bill and Charlie. Bill works at a bank and Charlie is a zoologist." Harry found that rather impressive. "Then Percy. Fred and George are twins, then there's me. I also have a sister Ginny who is still in middle school." Harry nodded along. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No. My mom wanted more kids, but they never got around to it." He joked, chuckling. "But I do have Sirius. He's basically a child himself, so it's like having a brother."

"Sirius?" Hermione asked.

"Yea. He's my uncle. Well, not really, but he might as well be, you know? He and my dad are really close. My dad is sometimes just as childish as Sirius, too. Sometimes I think that Remus is the only adult in the house."

Ron asked, "Who's Remus?"

"Sirius' boyfriend." Ron reeled back, eyes wide. "I've only known him for a few years, but I like him, I guess. He cooks the rest of us can't and he mends clothes well."

"Wait, Harry. His boyfriend?" Hermione asked.

"Yea. My dad said that this was the first guy he'd actually settled down with." Ron spoke this time.

"You don't... find that weird?"

"Why would I? I mean, Remus is a few years older, but only about four, give or take. And Sirius does have more ink than flesh colour on his skin. But I think it looks cooler." Hermione and Ron were watching him. "What?"

Hermione put on a smile. "Nothing, Harry. Just surprised, that's all."

But-" Hermione cut him off by elbowing him in the ribs. "R- right." The room slowly began to fill with people while Harry was asking about Hermione and Ron's family, answering questions when asked.

"An owl?"

"Yea. My dad go it for me when I was eleven. She's pure white. Sirius wanted something bigger. Dad said no."

"That's amazing." Ron sighed. "All I have is a stupid rat that used to be my brother's."   
"I have a cat," Hermione said, watching someone pass. "I've never seen an owl up close before." The bell rang, so Harry walked straight to Mrs Figg. She handed him the schedule, so looked it over. He had science and art with Slytherin, history with Ravenclaw, and math with Hugglepuff and physical education were only Gryffindor. Walking to the top floor, he walked into the science class, where Mr Snape was sitting at his desk. Assuming that no one was assigned a seat, he parked himself right in the first chair.   
Harry pulled out a notebook so he could write down what all he needed for this class. "Potter." He jumped, looking up. Snape was scowling at him, so he walked forward.

"Yes, Mr-"

"You'll be given an assigned seat. I've created a list of things that you'll need for this class. I'll forgive you for not being prepared for only today. Any other time that you do not have everything that is meant for this class, you will receive a "'F' for that day. You will not disrupt, you will not ask others for anything, you will do your own work, and if you do anything against what I have told you, I will fail you for that day. There is no make-up day or retakes. If you fail, that is your permanent grade. Do I make myself clear?" Harry stared at the man, wide eyes and offended.

"Yes."

"Last seat by the window."

"But, Mr Snape, my glasses are broken and I won't get a new pair for a few weeks. I need to be in the front so I can see."

"That is not my problem, Potter. Last seat by the window." The bell rang again. signalling the start of the school day.

"But if I can't see, I won't be able to do the work."

"Again, Potter that is not my problem. You should have been more prepared."

"But that's-"

"Detention, Potter." Snape barked.

"What?"

"You will serve detention. Is that such a bizarre concept? Or is it that at your previous school praised you so much that you did not have detentions?"

"No, but this isn't-"

"One more word, Potter and you'll be given two." Harry pressed his lips together, walking towards the back of the class, sitting down. In front of him was another Gryffindor girl, this one had blindingly blonde hair with bows and flowers all throughout her hair. She turned as he was pulling out his things.

"My name is Lavender."

"Harry." He responded, not looking up from his bag. He had learned at an early age how to control his anger. Not that he ever actually utilized that skill, subconsciously opting to snap at people when he was upset. He realized that today, to this teacher, he would prefer to utilize the skill so not to upset the teacher further.

"I've heard about you. You're new here."

"What gave you that idea?" He responded sarcastically. Lavender obviously could not detect sarcasm.

"Well, because this is your first day here." Harry nodded, only half paying attention. He instead looked to his right, seeing large bushy hair.

"Hermione?" The girl looked over, face brightening as she looked at him.

"You share my rotation! That's wonderful." She beamed, smiling widely. When class started, Snape barking orders at people the whole time, Harry tried to pay attention. He couldn't see that far ahead and only noticed a dark coloured blob in the front of the room.

After class finished, Harry walked up to the desk, where the teacher was sitting. "What do you want?"

"When am I to do my detention? I'm going to have to let my father know."

"You will stay after school on Friday for one hour." Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Alright." Walking out the door, he met with Hermione, as they walked to the next class. Pulling out his schedule, he knew they were headed to math. "So, what's this rotation thing?"

"Well, the class before and after lunch has alternating days. Since this is Wednesday, in the third period we have life science and fifth period we have phys ed."

"Um..." Harry hesitated. "For... phys ed, am I going to need to change?"

"You don't want your uniform sweaty, do you?" They both walked down the stairs and turned, continuing to walk. "Don't worry. You'll be given the sports uniform. They all look the same, unlike the school uniform." To emphasize her statement, she motioned to the skirt she was wearing. They walked into the room where Minerva- he still didn't know her proper name- was waiting for him. With pursed lips, she pulled him to the front of the room.

Immediately, she handed him a math book, notebook, and folder. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. In this class, you will be given homework." He nodded. "If you need anything else explained, feel free to come to me. I don't know how far you were in your last school, but we are far ahead in the curriculum, so do not be afraid to ask questions. Your seat will be in the very centre of the room." She pointed to the seat which was in the middle row, three seats back.

"Um, Mrs..."

"McGonagall."

"Right. Mrs Mcgonagall, my glasses are broken and I won't be getting new ones for a few weeks." She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Very well. A student will be out of a few days so you can have her seat until she returns. After that, I'll figure something out until you get your glasses repaired." He nodded, dragging his things to the desk right in the front of the class. Five minutes into the class and Harry's head was swimming in numbers, letters, and shapes. He wondered if he had gotten here a month earlier he would better understand what was going on. About halfway through the class, someone tapped his shoulder when Mrs Mcgonagall was writing on the board, so Harry turned around to see Hermione. Without words, she just handed him a piece of paper.

He opened it, seeing a number and words scribed in fairly pretty handwriting: If you need help with understanding anything. He nodded to himself, tucking the paper into his pocket. When Mrs Mcgonagall said the class was over, they still had about five minutes until the bell rang so he pulled out his phone and the paper, programming her number into it.

"How do you even spell your name?" He asked her, turning around. She chuckled, motioning for him to give her the phone. He did and when she gave it back, he looked it over. "That's interesting as a name."

"Well, my mother is an interesting person. She likes to read more than anything else." She cocked her head to the side. "Where's you get your name?" Harry swallowed thickly. He couldn't just say he chose it, right? Harry decided to skim the truth, only slightly.

"My mother named me after her grandfather. He was her favourite family member if I remember correctly." She nodded along to his words. "Hey, this morning you said that you never saw an owl up close. Wanna come see Hedwig?"

Hermione's amber eyes widened. "Would I be allowed? I mean, you just met me. And I'm a girl."

"So?" He asked. He'd had girls at his house and in his room before. There never seemed to be anything wrong with that.

"Oh, well... I'll have to tell my mom."

"You can use my phone if you want." She smiled, but it seemed fragile and fleeting. When the bell rang, they walked all the way to the next class, which was bottom floor. He was hoping that at least this class would be relatively easy.

"What would your family think about you just inviting people home with you?"

"Well, Dad likes company. Sirius doesn't care either way and Remus would probably love you. He reads more than all of us combined. He has upwards of 1,000 books." Her eyes went wide and sparkly. "You could probably borrow one if you wanted."

"Oh, I couldn't ask that." Harry just shrugged as they walked into the classroom.

"It's up to you." He stood in the middle of the room, not sure where to sit.

"There aren't any assigned seats. Sit anywhere." He nodded his head, plopping himself next to Hermione. He leaned down to his bag to pull out his notebook so to write down what he needed, just like his classes before. The wire keeping the papers together was stuck on the zipper.

"Are you kidding me?" He sighed, crouching to the floor. He spent more time than he cared to admit trying to get it released. When he finally did, he stood seeing someone walking to the table that he and Hermione were staying.

He was wearing green, so Harry figured he was in Slytherin. This person had pale skin with hair just as pale slicked back on his head. Silver eyes and an air of confidence, Harry felt his chest tighten when his eyes scanned over his face. What was that all about? Maybe he was attractive to Harry? That was a possibility. That was until he opened his mouth.

"Hey Granger, haven't you learned to tame the rat that lives in your hair, yet?" He felt his fingers twitch with irritation. The boy seemed to just notice Harry was sitting there. "Oh, you're the new kid. I heard about you. First day and you already got detention?"

"That's not your business." The boy seemed not to even hear what he had said.

"I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy. I think you'll learn that there are some people in this school that are better for your image," He puffed out his chest, "And people that will only drag you down." He didn't look away from Harry's eyes, but it was obvious who he was talking about. "I think it's about money. The poor people should just be in a different school."  
"Money doesn't make the person, attitude does. And so far, your attitude makes you seem like a bit of an asshole." Draco reeled back, seeming offended.

"Money doesn't matter?"

"That's only something that poor people tell themselves to feel better about not having money." He slides next to Hermione. Don't touch her hair. Don't touch her hair. Draco reached out, Hermione leaned away. When he flicked a strand of her hair, Harry walked forward, ready to sacrifice his hand touching skin just to punch him. Before he could, Hermione put her hand out, placing it softly on his chest to stop him.

He looked down at her, seeing her face completely calm wither her eyes closed and breathing deeply. The red that he was seeing bled away when he looked at her. "It's okay, Harry. You chose who to be friends with. That much is obvious. Let him prattle on, talking his head off, but not saying anything important. He's just insecure." Harry snorted. She pulled her hand away and Harry sat down as Draco huffed and walked away. When Harry opened his book to the next blank page, he stopped and froze. Hermione just touched his chest. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love the idea of Harry being oblivious. Anyway, I made a schedule for Harry's classes for anyone who wanted to know [here](http://that-artistic-tortilla.tumblr.com/post/166232155068/i-was-getting-confused-myself-so-i-made-a) it is

Physical education was the worst invention that anyone had ever invented. Ms Hooch decided that he needed to be fitted for proper fitting clothes. Harry figured that he could just tell her what sizes he was, but no. She explained that he needed to be measured for the right size. She pulled him to the office room. "I know about your... special needs." He looked at her. She had spiky silver hair in all different directions. "Arms out."

Harry sighed and irritated noise pulling his arms away from his body. She measured him and sent him on his way saying she would have his clothes tomorrow. When he went back out, he noticed that all the students were already in their gym uniforms. Shorts that fell to the knees and a regular T-shirt. All of them, true to Hermione's words, looked the same.

He wasn't allowed to do the activities, so he sat in the bleachers. When Ms Hooch turned her back, he pulled out his phone, immediately calling his house. It rang once, twice, three times, _"Hello?"_

"Sirius?"

_"Yea. What's up, Kid? You okay?"_

"Figuratively speaking."

_"Why are you whispering?"_

"I'm sort of in a class right now."

" _Harry Potter! If you're in class, get off the phone."_ Harry had to pull the phone away from his ear as Sirius yelled.

"It's not like that. I'm in gym class. I can't actually do anything until tomorrow because I don't have the gym clothes."

_"Are you going to need them? That's not a problem, we can-"_

"Sirius, where is my dad?"

" _In the next room. I'll get him."_ Harry listened as Sirius set the phone down walking away from it and to the doorway so he could yell, " _Hey James! You kid is on the phone."_ And he listened to Sirius' footfalls to return. " _He's on his way._ "

"Thanks." He heard the phone being passed over.

" _You okay, Kiddo?_ "

"I'm going to need a sports binder."

 _"Why?_ "

"Phys ed. They put me in physical education. I can't wear this while running around. I'll die."

" _You won't-_ "

"Dad, I will literally die. My lungs will collapse and I'll suffocate on my own blood. You want your son to gargle on his own blood?"

" _Of course I don't want that, but you're being dramatic."_

"I'm not. My tombstone will say Here Lies: Harry Freaking Potter. Down in his own lungs." James let out a barking laughter.

"I _'ll get your sports binder, Harry. You won't drown in your lungs._ " Ms Hooch was looking up at him. She made the motion for him to hang up the phone.

"I gotta go. Ms Hooch is threatening me with her eyes. They look like they belong to a hawk, but I think it just contacts. Also, Hermione might be coming to see Hedwig, I haven't gotten an answer. Love you." He hung up the phone, stuffing it into his pocket. He watched as Hermione talked to another girl, pulling a bandana over her head and down to her neck before pulling it to her hair, keeping it from her face. Maybe Harry should use one. His hair is everywhere usually, so it wouldn't be a bad idea. When that class was over, he met Hermione by the door. She was putting perfume over her clothes.

Harry coughed as he tasted it, leaning away from her. "Oh, sorry. I don't like to smell bad."

"That's understandable, but that doesn't make it taste any better." She let out a laugh, covering her mouth. "Um, Hermione?"

"Hmm?" She hummed, not looking up from her bag which she was looking through.

"I noticed that yesterday, I was introduced to an English teacher, but there isn't an English class on the schedule."

"That's because it's a class that we get when we are in tenth and eleventh grade. We only get the amount that we need credits for. Every rotation is missing one. Gryffindor rotation one I missing math and rotation two is missing history, which will be made up the next two years. In our senior year, we will be able to make up any classes that we didn't make enough credits for."

"How many credits are needed to graduate?"

"Three for math, two for English, two for history, two for science and two for extracurricular activities."

"What are-"

"Life science and art will be the two that we need. Next year, one of the rotation classes is cut out of our schedule so there will only be one rotational class and the other will be filled the entire week by only one class rather than two classes and study hall."

"You've only been in this school a month longer than I have. How do you have such a grasp on this?"

"I have a pretty good memory. That helps when you're one of the only three people in your grade with perfect grades."

"Who are they?"

"Padma Patil, Draco Malfoy and I." Harry couldn't hold back the groan at the boy's name. "We still have one more class with him today. Don't worry, tomorrow we only have two classes with him."

"And Friday?"

"Only two. The rotation that day is Study hall." The bell rang, the sound bouncing off of the walls of the gymnasium.

"Let's get this over with." The art class was also on the bottom floor, so it was a matter of simply walking into the right door.

"There aren't any assigned seats here either." He sat next to her. As if just drawn to the place where he could cause the most trouble, Draco made his way over to their table.

"What do you want this time?" Harry asked, already annoyed by his presence.

"I just wanted to see if you had decided to actually hang out with people that matter."

"I did decide on it. That's why I'm with Hermione." The blond didn't let it phase him this time, keeping his arrogant demeanour.

"If you want to keep being with a peasant, I won't stop you. Just know that the option is always open."

"And how do you know that I'm not poor? Who even says that Hermione is? Seriously, why does money even matter?"

"It's all about status, Potter. Only the rich and the smart move up in the world. The rest are there to be stepping stools." Harry's teeth were grinding as the blond was trying his patience.

"I would rather die than do anything with you." Something flashed behind Draco's eyes, but it was quickly smothered away.

  
"If that's the way you feel, I won't bother you anymore."

"Good." He sat down and waited for the class to start. When he felt a tingling in the back of his neck, he looked over to see Hermione watching him. "What?"

"No one's ever stuck up for me like that." She looked as if she was about to cry.

"What about your friend Ron?"

"Half the time he isn't even paying attention. He sticks up for me, but never like that."

"Well, I don't let anyone talk down to my friends." Due to it being the end of the day, the last hours dragged on for seemingly an eternity. When the final bell rang, Harry walked with Hermione to the front of the school where he was dropped off. "Do you need to call your mom?"

"Yea." He handed her the phone and she walked a distance away, talking. He decided that now would be a good time to listen to music. His father wasn't due for the few minutes it had taken for him to drive here that morning, so he had time. He tapped his fingers along with the music, humming to the lyrics. When Hermione came back minutes later, he moved the headphone to his neck so he could hear her. "She said I can stay until eight unless you want to send me home earlier. She also wants to meet your dad."  
"I'm sure he'll be fine with it." He sat on the curb, pulling off the headphones.

"What were you listening to?" She asked. Her eyes were focused on him and it made him nervous.

"It-It's... my dad and Sirius put a whole bunch of music on it from Dad's collection."

"Collection?" Hermione seemed to be truly interested in what he had to say. He wondered if that had to do with the fact that Harry stood up to Draco for her.

"Each of us has a collection. Dad has CD's, Remus has books, Sirius has magazines of motorbikes that he can afford but still won't get."

"Why does he look if he won't buy?"

"He says that it makes the bikes look cooler if he doesn't have them. He does have one though. It's in our garage." Hermione's eyes lit up again at his words.

"Could I see it?"

"If you ask Sirius, you could probably a ride." Her mouth dropped.

"I could never ask something like that." Harry simply replied with a shrug.

"If you don't want a ride, don't ask for one. We'll just look at it." When he saw a black car pulling in, he stood, dusting off his pants from sitting on the concrete. Hermione followed suit. When he pulled up, Harry noticed that Sirius was in the front seat of the car.

"Sorry, I tried to get him to say, he's just like a puppy," James explained as they climbed into the back seat. Hermione snorted then covered her mouth with both hands. Harry leaned over to her ear.

"It's okay to laugh. That's why he says it." She nodded but didn't look any less awkward. She'll have to get used to it if she was going to hang out with Harry more.The ride was fairly quiet, mostly filled with the sound of Sirius prattling on about how his day went.

"And you should have seen it. I never thought that kind of expression could happen on Remus' face. Anyway, we cleaned it up and I'm officially not allowed to try and cook anymore. How was your day, Harry?" Harry gave a noncommittal shrug and kept staring out the window. "Okay, who's your friend?" He looked between Hermione and Sirius.  
"This is Hermione. We met because she mistook me for someone else. I'm in her rotation." They pulled into the driveway, but Hermione didn't move even when everyone else was leaving the car. He ducked his head to look at her. "You okay?"

"You live here?" He raised his head, looking at the house. The outside was a dull grey colour. From the front, Harry could see the window to his bedroom, the living room and the dining room on one side and Sirius and Remus' room and the kitchen on the other. He Remus and Sirius shared a floor, the kitchen, living room, dining room, and office shared a floor, and on top was James' room and the spare room. Every bedroom had a bathroom and a walk-in closet. The basement had three rooms as well, one which Sirius was turning into a game room and one that Remus was going to turn into a library.

Harry looked at her as she climbed out of the car, eyes still on the house. Harry scratched his forehead, looking up at it as well. "I thought it was kind of small. I mean, the last one had three spare rooms and each servant had their own room." She snapped her body around to his direction.

"Servant?"

"Yea. We chose to let them go when we moved here. Of course, we might need at least one if Sirius is living here. Remus is going to get a job soon from what I hear and we don't want him to starve. Anyway, come on. Hedwig is in my room." They walked inside, Harry giving Hermione time to look at everything as they passed.

"We only have two bedrooms. One of them used to be a walk-in closet." As they walked up the stairs turning left, Hermione gasped. "Your room is as big as my living room and kitchen combined."

"It's probably not that big. I got the smallest room." Hermione tripped over herself. He didn't understand why she was making a big deal out of it. It was rather average by Harry's standards.

"Smallest?"

"Yea. Smallest to biggest, it goes mine, the guest room, Sirius and Remus', then Dad's." Harry walked over to the perch next to the window where Hedwig was still asleep. He ran a careful hand down her feathers waking her. "C'mon, Hedwig. Wake up for just a while."

"Is it okay to keep the window open like that?"

"Yea. She goes out at night and always returns by the time I wake up in the morning." He picked up a treat for her, letting her snatch it out of his hand. "Here. Give her one. Shell let you pet her." He handed the bowl to his friend, watching her do exactly as he did. When she ran a shaking hand down Hedwig's feathers, she let out a sigh of a laugh.  
"She's so soft." He nodded. A thought occurred to Harry.

"I have to tell Dad about the detention. Stay here, I'll be back. Or don't, it's up to you." He ran out of the room and down to the dining room where James was writing something on a piece of paper. Harry sat down next to his father to wait until he was done. When James piled the papers together, he looked at his son. It was strange for Harry to think that he had his mothers hair colour but his father's hair texture. Harry always wondered what it would be like to have his father's hair colour, but the colour was one of the only things he had to remind himself of her.

"What's up, Kiddo?"

"Uh..." He wrung his hands together nervously. He'd never actually gotten in trouble this bad before. "I have detention this Friday." Summoned by the idea of trouble, Sirius poked his head into the room.

"It's only been one day. I at least waited a week before getting into any trouble when I was in school." He explained, walking into the room and sitting down on James' other side.

"What class? What for? When? How long?" Sirius put his hand on James' shoulder.

"Calm down. This is a momentous occasion. The pure of heart finally got in trouble."

"Well, in science-" James stood immediately, startling Harry. Sirius stood so he could push James back to sitting before taking the seat himself. "In- in science, I tried to tell him that I couldn't be placed in the back because my glasses are broken and I won't be able to see and he kind of told me too bad and when I tried to talk about it, he gave me detention. When I tried to argue that it wasn't fair, he threatened me with another. It's Friday after school for an hour long." James' face was tense as he looked at Harry. When Harry spoke again, it only came out as a strained whisper. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I think I'm going to have a talk with your science teacher." Harry shot up, looking down to his father.

"No! It's okay. I'll do the detention. You don't have to do anything. I just need to be picked up at four instead of three." He didn't want unnecessary conflict. Sirius was looking at them, obviously lost.

"What's going on?"

Without looking away from his son, James explained, "Severus is his science teacher."

"Snivillus?" Sirius asked, looking confused. "I thought he joined a cult or something." He looked up at Harry. "Is he giving you trouble?" Harry sighed, letting his shoulders fall.  
"Everything is fine. Just pick me up an hour later on Friday. I'm going to go back to Hermione." He walked out of the room hearing Sirius and his father talking, but not paying attention. Walking up the stairs again, he slid into his room to see Hermione next to his desk with one of the decorative pictures in her hands. When he cleared his throat, she jumped and nearly dropped it making his heart beat faster.

"Sorry, Harry. I just saw them and..." She handed the picture frame to him. "Who... who is that?" He looked down. She had picked up the picture where he was a baby, laying in a hammock with his mother. They were both asleep and apparently James had taken the picture. She was wearing a summer dress. He looked at this picture often, always noticing the contrast of their skin first. She had fair skin and freckles while he had darker skin like his father.

"That's my mom." He stated, placing the frame back where it was.

"She was pretty." Harry gave a sort of laugh that felt too hollow and died in his throat.

"Yea. She was. According to Dad, he thought that he died and went to heaven when she finally said yes to a date."

"Finally?" Harry motioned for her to follow, so he led her down the stairs. James and Sirius were still in the same room.

"Hey, Dad." James looked up from brooding silently. Harry sat next to him and Hermione next to Harry. "Can you tell me about Mom, again?" He grew a look on his face that Harry knew by now from every single time he talked about her. Sad and longing but mixed with acceptance.

"Lily Potter- or well, Lily Evans at the time was just..." He puffed up, eyes far away, "perfect. She was beautiful, and intelligent and kind and just... perfect. At first... and second, and third... let's just say that for the longest time, she turned me down."

"Why?" Hermione asked, intrigued.

"She thought Jamie was a bit too stuffed into himself." Sirius cut in before James could answer.

"That's what she said. I think she just couldn't handle all of this handsome." Hermione laughed, covering her face. Harry noticed she did that more often than not when laughing. "After a while-"

"three and a half years," Sirius interjected.

"Okay, after a few years, she finally said yes. It was another few years until I proposed."

"Don't forget to tell them that when you two first met, you proposed to her right there." Harry watched his father's face get darker around his cheeks as Hermione giggled into her hand.

"Moving on. We had Harry at twenty-one. Well, I was a year older because of birthday stuff." Hermione counted on her hands.

"You're thirty-six years old?" She asked, disbelieving.

"Don't make me sound so old."

"No, I mean you look much younger. I thought you were in your twenties." James looked over to Sirius, smiling widely. Sirius just rolled his eyes and stood, walking out of the room.

"Where's he going?" Harry asked, watching his godfather as he walked.

"Remus is in his library." Harry nodded along but noticed that his friend looked confused. "We have a place for Remus to keep his books and if no one went to get him, he would probably stay forever."

"You have a whole library?" Harry nodded.

"Where else would Remus keep his books? Wanna go see?" He stood up, motioning for her to follow him. He pushed in her chair as they walked.

"Make sure to knock before going in," James called through the house.

"I know that." He yelled back, then looked at Hermione. "I've only made that mistake once, and once is enough." Her face scrunched up as he opened the door to the basement stairs. Walking down, they came in contact with a door. Making sure to knock loudly and wait for the shuffling on the other side to stop, he opened the door. Sirius was standing up, trying to get his hair sorted and Remus was correcting his clothes. "Sorry to intrude. Hermione wanted to see the library." As she walked in, she looked around at the multitude of books on shelves. Remus looked from her to Harry and back.

"Nice to meet you, Hermione. My name is Remus. I'm..." He seemed to be looking for the right words to say.

"Harry's godfather's boyfriend. Harry told me." Hermione responded, not looking anywhere but the bookshelf that held the historical fiction. Sirius tensed as Remus went pale.  
"And you still wanted to come here?" Sirius joked, sitting down in the chair next to Remus. Hermione shrugged, finally turning her attention to Remus.

"Harry said you might let me borrow a few books?" Harry watched as her hands fumbled around behind her back. It reminded him of what he used to do when he was nervous. Remus, being on the other side of here, didn't notice, but rather his face lit up and he stood.

"What are you interested in? I have everything from fantasy to non-fiction. There's also science fiction, which is Harry's favourite and horror which is James' favourite."  
"What about..." Hermione started, looking at Sirius, who was folding a piece of paper in his hands.

"We don't talk about what Sirius reads." At the mention of his name, the man looked up, noticing that everyone was watching him.

"What about me?" Remus turned around to see him.

"Nothing. Just go back to... what were you doing?"

"Origami. Look." He held out his hand so everyone in the room went to look. It was just a piece of paper crumbled up. There were no significant shapes or designs to it."Uh... What is it?" Harry finally braved to ask.

"A mess." after a tense silence, Remus threw his head back and laughed as Harry chuckled and Hermione laughed behind her mouth. He watched as she picked out three books to read and eased them into her backpack.

"Thanks." She seemed as they walked up the stairs again.

"Wanna see the pool?"

* * *

When it was time to take her home, James left and Sirius sat next to Harry on the couch. By this time he had taken off his binder and was in pyjamas again. "So. Harry." He looked up at his godfather. "Let's talk for a minute."

"I'm all ears. Well, I'm also mouth, nose, and eyes along with the rest of my face and body too, but you know what I mean." When Sirius didn't laugh, Harry felt himself shrink.

Did I do something wrong?"

"No, not really. It's just... You know how your dad always tells you that Remus and I love each other and there's nothing wrong with that?"

"Because there isn't."

"I know there isn't. But the place where we lived before, they were used to us being how we are. Well, some people didn't teach their kids that."

Harry scowled at the older man, "What do you mean?"

"Some people taught their kids that two guys being together is wrong. They think it should just be a girl and a guy."

"But that's not right."

"I know and you know, but not everyone is accepting as you are." Harry looked down, taking this all in. Why would people not like when two people are happy. Harry thought back to that morning.

_"Sirius' boyfriend." Ron reeled back, eyes wide. "I've only known him for a few years, but I like him, I guess. He cooks the rest of us can't and he mends clothes well."_

_"Wait, Harry. His boyfriend?" Hermione asked._

_"Yea. My dad said that this was the first guy he'd actually settled down with." Ron spoke this time._

_"You don't... find that weird?"_

_"Why would I? I mean, Remus is a few years older, but only about four, give or take. And Sirius does have more ink than flesh colour on his skin. But I think it looks cooler."_

_Hermione and Ron were watching him. "What?"_

_Hermione put on a smile. "Nothing, Harry. Just surprised, that's all."_ Harry sighed, laying his head on Sirius' shoulder.

"Sorry. I won't tell anyone else." Sirius tensed, but then relaxed again, putting his arm around Harry.

"So... another topic... do you like Hermione?"

"Of course I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't have wanted her to come meet everyone." Sirius sighed.

"No, Harry. Do you like her like I like Remus?"

"Of course not. You're both guys."

"Jesus." Sirius groaned, sinking down on the couch. "Okay. Do you have a crush on Hermione?" Harry pulled away, looking at Sirius. His silvery eyes looked at him almost desperately. Harry had seen those grey eyes somewhere else, didn't he?

"No. She's just a friend." Sirius sighed, closing his eyes.

"That's all I wanted to know. We should make sure that your father knows, or else he will soon be planning your wedding." Harry groaned at the thought. "I know. So we should make sure that you do not get into that situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be a bit darker than the rest thus far, so be warned about that. It's also going to be one of the rare chapters that are going to be from two different points of view.

"Harry. It's time to wake up." He groaned into his pillow. "I'm not like your dad, Harry. I'm gonna pull you out of bed if you don't wake up. "Sirius informed. "In fact, from your window, I think we have a clear shot to the pool. I could throw you out there.

"I'm getting up." He mumbled, not making any effort to actually do so. When the blanket was stolen from his bed, he curled up on himself, holding his knees to his chest.

"C'mon, Harry." When he didn't respond, Harry yelled out as he was lifted off of the bed. He expected Sirius to just set him down, but he was being carried out of the room.  
"What are you doing?" He was carried to Sirius' room, where the shower was running. "Wait!" Harry struggled against Sirius' grip while trying not to touch his skin. "I'm up! Sirius, I'm awake!" He tried to climb down, but Sirius was stronger. "Wait! I'm sorry! I'll get dressed!" Sirius stopped, setting Harry down, finally. He straightened his clothes with a huff.

"Where's dad?"

"He had a long night last night, so he asked me to wake you up." Harry looked at Sirius.

"Is he okay? He came home late last night. What happened?"

"He's fine. He dropped your friend off and went somewhere with a friend. Go get dressed." He scowled at his godfather, who seemed to be sure to look anywhere but at Harry's face.

"What aren't you telling me?" Sirius sighed.

"If you don't hurry, you'll be late." Sirius pushed Harry out of the room, guiding him to his own room. After dressing himself, feeding Hedwig, and grabbing his bag, Harry walked downstairs. he looked in his backpack, making sure everything was there. He forgot his phone upstairs. On the way up to his room, he knocked into someone with an 'oof' so he looked up. Ready to apologize, he looked into the face of someone who he had no idea who he was.

The man, with a pale face and dark hair, looked at Harry for a moment, while Harry had to register what was going on. When Harry realized that there was a mysterious person in his house, he screamed, as loud as his lungs would let him.

Sirius' door opened, so Harry ran in, running behind his godfather as a form of a shield. Harry was only five feet and three inches of a male without testosterone. Sirius would have a much better chance to defeat a burglar. Sirius, who definitely was NOT trying to fend off a man who was mysteriously in their house, just sighed into his palm.

"Harry, go downstairs and eat."

"Sirius, a man is in our house."

"I know he is Harry."

"Aren't you going to do something?"

"Yes, but I need you to go downstairs."

"I'm not moving until you deal with him," Sirius grumbled something under his breath that Harry didn't catch, then wiped his hands down his face. He looked at the man, who looked more confused than anyone else.

"Harry, I know him. He isn't going to hurt you."

When he heard a noise behind him, Harry jumped and yelled again, back to the wall. This time, it was only Remus. Remus, who was built bigger than Sirius despite his softness. Harry opted to use what he had. "I'll go if someone takes me." Sirius turned around, looking at his godson.

"Harry, you're fifteen."

"And I don't know him."

"If he goes out first, will you just go?" Harry thought for a moment. Did Sirius mean go downstairs, or go outside?

"Fine." Sirius turned, pointing to the stairs. The man took the opportunity, walking down the stairs. Harry followed behind Sirius and Remus, before Remembering what he even walked upstairs to get. "I forgot my phone." By the time he was downstairs, the man was gone. Sirius motioned for him to sit so he could eat. Remembering that Sirius was keeping something from him, Harry huffed. "I'll eat at school. I just need someone to drive me." Sirius' face dropped, looking almost sad. Harry closed his eyes and sighed, walking out of the room.

He sat in the car until Remus came out, knocking on the window. "You don't mind if I take you, right?"

"Are you keeping things from me, too?" Remus let his shoulders drop. Harry wasn't looking at him, but he knew that Remus was watching him. The man just walked around and climbed into the driver seat. The ride was mostly silent, but this time it wasn't a comforting silence. When Harry was dropped off at school, he just climbed out and walked into the building, not looking back.

* * *

When Remus came back into the house, Sirius didn't even look away from James. Sirius was looking at James like he had insulted the closest thing to Jesus that Sirius could believe in. Sirius had spent the greater part of the morning since Harry left yelling. James was honestly glad that Remus was back because he seemed to be the only one to calm Sirius down.

"So what did I miss?" He asked, making James wince. So Remus was not on his side in this.

Sirius stood, slamming his hands on the table. "I will tell you what you fucking missed." He yelled. "You missed a very lovely conversation between James and me."

"It was more like you yelling at me and anytime I would try and talk, you got louder."

"Harry was fucking terrified, James. He thought that man was breaking into our house. What was I supposed to tell him?"

"The truth, maybe."

"Hey, Harry, I know you thought your parents were happy but James has the repressed need to fuck everything up and likes both men and women so he will literally sleep with anyone who's human. Your mother knew this from day one. So while you're still recovering the trauma of losing your mother to the point where you get physically sick when people touch your skin, your father is out fucking other dudes. Sorry to have to be the one to tell you. Yea, that'll go over really well, won't it?" Remus sat next to Sirius but made no move to calm him down.

"Harry knows we're keeping something from him," Remus explained simply. They both looked at the man. I asked if he was okay with me driving him. His exact words were, 'are you keeping things from me, too?' I had no answer for that."

"See what I mean, James? Didn't you swear not to subject Harry to your fuckery?" at this, James stood, slamming his hands down in the same fashion that Sirius did.

"I didn't tell him to leave in the morning."

"Why did you even bring him home?" James sat down. He couldn't even argue that. Why did he bring him home? "You have to make something up to Harry if you don't want him to know. I've already said that you should just not do that. At least while he's in school. But do you listen to me? No, of course not. It's not like I'm here to keep you alive or anything or to make sure that you don't leave your child somewhere. Lily told Harry that I'm here so I don't fucking starve." James knew that wasn't true. Sirius was alone for a long time before he and James lived together. "So how about this. If you're gonna have a one-night stand with some stranger, don't come home. I'll do your responsibilities to you only fucking son, alright? And you have to make up some sort of convoluted lie to explain why a stranger was in his house this morning." Sirius walked- more like stormed- out of the room. James just buried his head in his hands. He really messed up, didn't he?

* * *

Harry was still upset when he was trying to listen to Snape. "For this next assignment, you will be working in groups. This will last for no less than two weeks and I will be assigning you with your partner. There will be no exchanges. If you fail, so does your partner, so remember that." Harry sighed. He didn't pay attention until he heard who he knew. "Granger, you will be with Parkinson." She groaned, moving her way across the room, moving farther than his vision allowed him to see. After a while, he finally heard his name. "Malfoy, with Potter." Harry groaned as he heard shuffling.

Draco sat next to him, in Hermione's seat. "So, Harry."

"Don't try to make friends. We're just here to do this assignment." He heard Draco huff as Snape continued to call names. When he was done, he handed out pictures that looked like something he would rather not talk about.

"Who can tell me what this is?" Harry wasn't sure he should answer that question. "No one knows?" He looked over to see Someone's hand waving in the air. He knew it was Hermione. "No one at all?" He huffed again, knowing that she was seen. "Disappointing."

"Please, sir. It's called a Planarian flatworm."

"Detention, Granger, for talking without being spoken to." Harry stood up.

"She had the answer. That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"What was that, Potter?" He was, as it seemed, giving Harry the ability to back out.

"You heard me. You're just being unfair."

"Detention again, Potter. You will serve it today and tomorrow." Harry grumbled, sitting down. "Now, if there are no more interruptions, I would like to continue.

After class was over, Harry met with Hermione, walking to their math class. "Thanks for sticking up for me. I'm sorry that you've gotten detention."

"It's nothing, Hermione. I'm starting to see why my father hates him." Hermione was silent for a long time after that until they sat down.

"Does it ever get... suffocating? living with all men?"

"Not really. Wouldn't that be a bit hypocritical?"

"How?"

"A guy being upset with living with guys?"

"I- I guess not. I mean, it could be like Ron. He lived all his life with only his sister and his mum. The rest were all guys." Harry nodded, turning around when Mrs Mcgonagall walked into the room. class went relatively fast compared to yesterday. After that, he went to woodshop where a man in a turban was teaching. he explained to Harry that since they were almost done with a project, he would have to wait until the next assignment to begin, to which he was thankful. At lunch, walked to the bathroom, calling his father.  
Harry?"

"I have detention tonight as well, so you'll have to pick me up at four."

"Alright. Harry, i-"

"I have to go." He hung up and turned his phone down so that he wouldn't hear or feel it, walking back to the table where he was sitting. He didn't want to deal with anyone at home. He was sitting with Hermione, Ron, the girl named Lavender, and a boy named Sheamus. Sheamus had a thick Irish accent.

"So, Harry. Ron told us that you're from the West coast. What's it like there?"

"We lived by the ocean. our house lined the beach. It barely rained there. My mom loved the beach, even though she got burnt more often than not. Dad taught me how to swim and Sirius taught me to ride a bike." Without even looking up, he explained all of this. "For physical education, which was only mandatory until fifth grade, we went outside most days, unless it rained. I went to a private boarding school." When Harry looked up from... whatever was on his tray, he noticed that all of them but Hermione were staring at him in awe.

"Does that mean you're rich?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm completely broke. I just lucked out in going to an expensive school." He stated sarcastically.

"How fortunate," Lavender exclaimed. Harry rolled his eyes as he continued to eat. "So if you're broke, where do you live?"

"In a box under a bridge. Everyone get's their own personal box." Hermione broke out laughing. Even Ron was laughing at this point. The only one who wasn't was Lavender. Does she really not understand sarcasm?  
"I'm so sorry." Harry chuckled, unable to hold it in. "How are you even surviving?"

Magic. My father, uncle, and I are all wizards." Lavender scoffed, looking at him.

"That's not possible."

"of course it is. How else would we be able to live under a bridge? Magic." Lavender scowled and stood, walking away. When she was out of hearing range, he finished poking at his food. "I'm thinking of asking if I can just bring food from home. That would be better."

"Oh, sure. Can't get used to the food with your rich person diet, can you?" Sheamus asked with a smile.

"Obviously not. I mean, I would enjoy," He looked down at his food if one could call it that, "this, if I wasn't so rich."

"Honestly," Hermione interjected, "I've been here since the beginning of the year and I don't even know what it is." Ron snorted, then took a bite. Everyone else looked at him, showing obvious signs of disgust.

"Hey, food is food."

"Maybe you live under a bridge. That's why you're able to eat this."

"No, but my family isn't rich like yours, so I make do." When he said this, Harry felt ashamed for making the joke. He hadn't known that Ron wasn't living like he was. Harry spawned an idea, looking at Hermione for a moment, before looking back at Ron.

"Do you like swimming?"

Hermione was walking with him to their next class, which was phys ed again. "Are you sure it's alright to just invite people to your house like that?"

"Well, I can tell my dad about it in the morning. We have until next Saturday to organize everything. I'm sure it'll be fine. Well, provided no one asks about why Remus and Sirius sit so close all the time."

"I'm sorry you got in trouble about that."

"it wasn't so much of getting in trouble as it was I was talked to. I don't think I've ever actually been in trouble." In the gymnasium, he was given clothes to wear and taken to the boy's locker room. In the showers with the curtain closed, he changed quickly, realizing that he would have to do the work in his regular binder. With a sigh, he pulled the gym clothes on and packed his uniform into his bag.

He met Hermione and they walked out together. Ms Hooch blew the whistle and they all lined up. "What are we doing?" He asked. She tied her hair back like the day before.  
We're going to run three laps around the gym before we get started on the fitness activities." When they all lined up to start running, Harry took a few deep breaths knowing that it was all he would be able to afford when he finally started running. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Of course," He lied, "Why wouldn't I be?" She looked him in the eye, before looking straight.

"Because this stuff causes people to have a hard time breathing if they are rich and haven't done any exercise in a while."

Harry scoffed, "I can do it."

* * *

When Sirius walked into the room that James was sitting, James sat up. "Can you forgive me, yet?" Sirius didn't respond, sitting on the opposite side of the room. "Guess not. Harry hung up on me if that makes you feel better."

"Why'd he call?" James took this as a good sign.

"He has detention again. Wouldn't tell me why. I tried to talk to him but he hung up on me."

"Good," Sirius responded.

"I... deserve that. What will it take for you to forgive me?" Sirius shrugged with an air of nonchalance.

"I don't know, maybe you could go back in time and prevent yourself from bringing a stranger into the same house that your son was asleep in." James winced.

"I would never let anything happen to Harry, Sirius. You know that."

"Well, I don't know him. He could have been a predator. You know you talk about Harry a lot when you're drunk? Like, you praise that kid to the highest heaven. Who's to say that he didn't hear you talking about your underage child and just used you to get to him?"

"I wasn't that drunk, Sirius. I was able to drive home." For the first time since this morning, Sirius looked at James.

"What time did you get home?" James, not having the answer, stayed silent. "Who drove you home? What was that man's name?" James looked at the floor. "What would have happened if you had gotten into a car wreck?" Sirius stood up, walking to his friend, taking him by his shirt. "How would Harry have felt, losing both of his parent to a fucking car, James?" The man looked up at Sirius, tears stinging his eyes. "You know what he told me?"

"Wh-" James cleared his throat as it cracked. "What did he say?"

"He thinks it's his fault that the wreck happened." James had heard about the wreck. He wasn't there because he was with Sirius instead, picking out presents for Harry's birthday. Harry was in the back seat when the wreck happened. the seat belt was broken and he was stuck with no way to get out of the car.

James had rushed to the hospital, but only Harry was there, staring straight ahead as if he didn't hear them going into the room. James broke down at the sight of his child. There was blood on his clothes and face and stitches on his head and a cast on his hand. Sirius walked over to the closest chair, covering his face. James knew that he was struggling to believe it happened, just as James himself was. When he touched Harry's arm, his son pulled away, falling off the bed and backing to a corner.

"Your child has been through a very traumatic ordeal." The doctor said as he walked in. He's going through a recovery stage that can manifest in any direction."

"All of that blood..." James couldn't finish.

"Only a part of it is his. I'm sorry, sir. You wife... she didn't make it. It's a miracle that even he survived." James fell to his knees. He wanted nothing more at that moment to hug his son, but he didn't want him to panic. James had cried to Sirius for many nights after that because he was unable to hold his son close to him.

"You better fix this," present time Sirius demanded. "If you ever do something like this again, I will take Harry and we will leave.

* * *

So it turns out that Harry can't. After the third lap, he collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. His chest was too tight and the binder was constricting. He couldn't draw enough breath in. "You okay?" Hermione asked, looking down at him.

"I'll... live..." Harry wheezed out. She chuckled.

"I'm sure you will. Let's go. She's going to make us do extra laps if we aren't in line in time." Harry stood, groaning as he stood. They were made to play basketball, which was significantly easier than running in circles. after the hour was over, Harry walked straight to the locker room to change. He felt sweaty and wanted nothing more to go home and shower for hours at a time. Instead, he had the rest of the classes and stupid detention.

With a sigh, he walked out and met Hermione. "Next class?" She quizzed. He tried his best to remember.  
"Art?"

"Yes." He smiled, pulling out his phone while he had time. He had three messages from Sirius and a phone call from his dad, but he ignored it, shoving his phone back into his pocket. WWhen the bell rang, they walked their way to the art room, Harry taking his seat next to Hermione.

Draco came by and sat next to Harry. "So, Potter."

"We're calling last names now?" Harry asked dryly, not looking up from his paper.

"It's professional. Anyway, I was thinking, for this project-"

"That is based on something that we are doing in school and only in school?"

"-Maybe I could-"

"Whatever you're suggesting, no. Now please leave."

"You haven't even heard what I want."

"If it's something you want, I guarantee I will not like it." He huffed and walked away, sitting next to his friends. Ms Sinistra, the art teacher, said that since he came about halfway through the week, he didn't have to do the weekly assignment, but next week he would start. After that he was in History, listening to Mr Binns drone on. He rested his head on his hand as he listened, barely able to stay awake. Hermione kept poking his side everytime he would start to drift off. After class was over, he watched enviously as all of the students walked out to go home. With a sigh, Harry gathered his things and walked with Hermione upstairs.

Walking into Snape's room, he felt a sense of impending dread filling him. Without even looking up, Snape began to talk. "Granger to one side of the room, Potter to the other. Since you seem to have decided to act up right at the beginning of an assignment, I will have nothing to give you. Instead, you'll be writing lines." Harry groaned in his throat, pulling out a pen and paper.

"What will we be writing?" Harry asked, sinking into the seat.

"It will be _I will not disrupt class_ repeating it until the end of class. Harry began, writing over and over again. When the alarm sounded to signify the end of the hour, Harry looked at the papers. Front and back, four pages of the same words. He flexed his fingers, groaning as they creaked from overuse. Harry gathered the papers, handing them to the teacher. He looked over the papers, looking at each one individually. "Your writing is nearly illegible, Potter."

"I'm sorry that you're dissatisfied."

"Tomorrow, you will do the same thing and if it unreadable, you will be back in detention every day until I can read it." Biting his tongue, Harry nodded, walking out. The whole way outside, he flexed his fingers trying to get blood flow back to normal. Outside, he noticed the car immediately and snapped his hands to his side. He didn't want any reason for his family to make a fight with the school. He walked closer, seeing his father.

James had bags under his eyes as he looked at Harry with a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes. When Harry entered the car, James pulled out. "Harry, what happened to your hand?"

"Nothing." James took a deep breath.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But tell someone in the house so that if it's hurt it can get hurt."

"Is there anyone in the house who isn't keeping secrets from me?"

"Harry, about this morning..." Harry just looked out the window. "Sirius told me what happened. That was... he was a friend that I had a long time ago. I thought I'd never see him again so it was very surprising that I met him. It turned out that he needed a place to stay. It was late and cold out, so I didn't consider that you didn't know him. I didn't think you'd be upset. You were asleep and I thought he would stay long enough for you to already be in school before he left." Harry didn't respond, opting to watch the scenery changing. James was silent for a moment, watching where he was driving. When they pulled into the driveway, Harry grabbed the door handle and groaned at the pain in his hand. "Remus didn't know, so you can talk to him about it."

Harry left the car, walking into the house and into the kitchen. He walked straight to Remus, passing Sirius without a second glance and held out his left hand. "I had to write for an hour straight and my hand won't stop hurting. Do you have something to help?" Remus looked from Sirius to James as he walked in, then at Harry.

"If you would let me touch your skin, I could wrap it for you. The compression could help."

"I'll wrap it myself. Thank you." He retreated up the stairs and to his bathroom. Under the sink was a first-aid kit where gauze was. He pulled it out, wrapping his individual fingers the all the way to his wrist. Harry would definitely go slower tomorrow.

* * *

Harry stayed in his room until there was a soft knock on the door. Without his saying anything, James walked into his room. "Dinner is ready." As if on command, his belly rumbled causing him to remember that he hadn't eaten lunch.

"What is it?" Harry asked as he sat up and looked at his father.

"The most American food we could think of. Hotdogs and hamburgers and macaroni and cheese and fries." Harry scrunched his nose but walked downstairs. When he turned around, James looked like he was going to touch Harry.

"What is it?" His eyes were crying while the rest of his face seemed to be without emotion.

"Nothing. Keep going." Dinner was relatively quiet.

"So, Harry," Remus started, "Anything interesting happens in school?"

"There's an open house thing on Tuesday. Also, I want to have a pool party." Sirius choked on his food.

"Really?"

"Yea. My friend Ron and I were talking." Harry knew it wasn't entirely true, but if they could lie, so could he. "He'd never been to a party before. I told him that if you guys are okay with it, we could invite his whole family."

"How big is his family, if I might ask," James responded.

"Seven kids and two parents." Sirius coughed but otherwise didn't respond. "They might not all be there though. You might meet them at the open house."

"I think it's a good idea," Remus explained, looking at Harry. Harry nodded along, eating his food.

"One more thing?" Harry added, sounding nervous. He hated the way his own voice sounded sometimes.

"Sure, Kiddo," James offered. "What's up?"

"Can I start bringing a lunch from home?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Edit- I looked back and realized that I messed up some minor details, so I went back and fixed them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To start with, I have 2 notes.  
> 1\. The proofreading thing that I use has decided to make me sound relatively British and I'm not going to be one to argue with a machine.  
> 2\. All food things come straight from Google. If I messed something up, let me know.

By the next morning, everything was going on as normal. James woke up Harry, who dressed and ate breakfast. He grabbed his lunch box and stuffed it into his bag. On the way out, he was talking to his father animatedly. "So maybe, since it was cut off these last few days, we could go through town soon. I mean, maybe after school. Of course, I have detention, so maybe not." Harry looked down at his hand, which was rewrapped because it had still hurt this morning.

"Maybe. What are you hoping to achieve by seeing the town?"

"Oh, Dad, you know. Getting in trouble, starting a gang, going to prison, all that business."

"No, absolutely not. You're not to start any gangs until you're at least seventeen."

"C'mon, Dad! That's so lame!" Harry laughed out loud as his father did.

"Why did you get detention yesterday? Is it okay for you to tell me now?"

"We were talking about Planaria and he asked a question and Hermione knew the answer but he wouldn't call on her. When she said the answer, he gave her detention for speaking out and I said that it wasn't fair so he gave me detention as well."

"And your hand?"

"Writing lines."

"That bad? How many lines?"

"An hour worth." Harry heard the creaking of the plastic when James' hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Please don't do anything, Dad. I'm not the only one who ever has to deal with this. You might just make it worse."

"Yea. It's good to know that my son isn't the only one who he treats like total crap." James rolled his eyes. When they pulled into the school parking lot, Harry collected his things. "If it gets too bad, don't be afraid to call me. I can help with something."

"I will. I promise."

* * *

The day went relatively slow. Science was slowest, obviously, as Snape decided that they were all not smart enough and needed the same thing explained three times over. They were going to study the life cycle of a flatworm.

The rest of the classes went faster, until lunch when Harry was talking to Ron. "We decided on Friday." His eyes lit up and Harry smiled. When he pulled out his food, he gained the looks of other people at different tables but didn't really care. Remus and his Dad had gotten together and made food from his grandmother's recipes again. Hermione looked over his shoulder at the food he was bringing out.

"What is that?"

"My grandmother had a bunch of food recipes that he gave to my dad and he and Remus made me food. I haven't had many of these since before my mom..."

"Yea." Hermione finally finished so he didn't have to talk about it. "So what's this called?" She pointed to the bowl of curry.

"It's called Korma. It's a type of curry made of meat and vegetables and yoghurt or cream. It's usually served hot, but since it was in a lunchbox, I kind of have to stick with warm." He sighed as he smelled it. "Go get a fork, you can try some."

"Oh, Harry, I couldn't."

"Why not? It tastes amazing." He looked up and noticed that Ron was specifically looking anywhere but at Harry. "Do you wanna try it, too?"

"Could I?"

"Sure. Just go get a fork. And get one for Hermione, too." Ron walked away, then, coming back with two forks. When Ron tasted it, he hummed in appreciation, but Hermione was still hesitant. "What's wrong?"

"Well, it's your food, isn't it? Wouldn't this be inappropriate?"

"I'm offering it to you, Hermione. I want you to try it." Still hesitant, she took a small fork full and looked at it. "Are you nervous about tasting it? It's not that spicy, Dad made sure. We talked about it last night." Ever hesitant, she took the fork into her mouth, they moaned at the taste. Harry grinned and started to eat. It was creamy and spiced, but not overwhelming and it reminded him of when he was ten and got sick so his mother prepared food for him. When he was done eating, he pulled out the next thing, which he was also excited to share. "This is called Ras Malai. It's a dessert."

Ron had moved to his side, looking at the dish with interest. "What's it made of?"

"It's described, as my dad explained, as a 'rich cheesecake with no crust.' Try some."

After another argument with Hermione, they both tasted it. "It's amazing." Harry nodded, taking a bite. He would definitely ask Remus to help his father make more food. The remainder of the day passed rather quickly, not including art, to which Draco had annoyed him again.

"I heard that you live under a bridge."

"Is that what you heard?" He asked, not entirely paying attention to the conversation. "You'd think that people would pick better rumours about me."

"Well, apparently it came from your mouth directly."

"Don't know what you're talking about. Just ask Hermione. I live in a five-star mansion with twenty bedrooms and two servants for each person." Draco tensed.

"Granger has been to your house?"

"Mansion, Draco. It's a mansion. We have like five kitchens." Hermione hid her face and tried to hold in the laugh.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I. We hire children to act like elves so that they can serve us. I don't even dress my own self. I have servants do it for me." Hermione couldn't hold it, laughing out loud. "Tell me, Draco. What is this... broom, is it called? What is the function of a broom?" With a grumbled noise, Draco left.

"You know he's going to tell people that." Harry just shrugged, looking at his friend.

"I guess there are two rumours about me now. I'm super rich and I'm super poor." After school, Harry stopped at the science room.

"You will be writing lines again."

I figured." With an annoyed sigh, Harry sat down and pulled out a piece of paper. After an hour of careful writing to make sure it was legible, Harry handed in two pages, front and back, of the same words. Snape looked them over. 

"So you are able to write better than chicken scratch. Very well. I will see you Monday after school."

"What? Why? I did as I was told."

"No, Potter. I did not tell you to write I will not disrupt the class. that was for yesterday. Today was meant to be something different."

"Then why didn't you tell me? You could have said so in the beginning of the detention."

"Are you talking back to me, Potter?" Harry gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"No, sir. I will see you Monday." With a growl, he walked out of the room, slamming the door. Upon seeing the car, he climbed in, throwing his bag to the floor.  
"What's wrong?" James asked, looking at his son. "What happened?"

"I have detention on Monday, too," Harry growled, kicking his bag. "I didn't write the correct lines so he's making me do it again."

"I could-"

"Dad. Please. I just want to go home." James nodded, starting the car. They drove in silence.

"Want some ice cream?" Harry looked up to see an ice cream shop which James was pointing to.

"Sure." Once inside, Harry was almost overwhelmed by a number of choices he had to choose from. He ended up with one flavoured with black cherry and James ordered a flavour called moose tracks. When they sat down to eat, it was silent until Harry spoke. "I want to try more things from your mom's recipes for lunch."

"Alright, I'll talk to Remus. Why, though?"

Hermoine and Ron never had any of the food I had today. I want them to try it more."

"Why don't we make a bunch of it for the pool party." Harry looked up and smiled.

"I'll have to ask Ron if his family will be okay with it." Harry pulled out his phone, dialling the phone. A female voice came on the other line.

_"Hello?"_

"Um, is Ron there?"

_"Who's this?"_

"It's Harry, his friend from school."

" _Ooh, I've heard about you. Just moved here a few days ago and already invited Ron over_." She seemed overly happy about it.

"Yea. I thought it would be nice. I- I actually asked him if his whole family was able to come. Did he tell you?" She gave a laugh.

" _Of course he did, dear. The only one who won't be coming will be Percy. He's trying to focus on his academics._ "

"Of course."

" _So why did you call? Is something wrong?"_

"N- nothing is wrong, per se. I just wanted to ask a question. Can... would it... my dad wants to know if it'll be okay if he makes his mom's food."

_"What kind of food would that be?_ "

"It would..." He looked at his father who nodded encouragingly. "It would be Indian food." The line was silent for a long time. "Mrs Weasley?" She let out a laugh.

" _Of course it would be fine. I could probably help make it. I'm rather good with cooking. Will it be your mother making it_?" Harry winced.

"No, you won't have to help. My uncle's... friend will be making it. He's best with food and stuff."

" _Alright. So this Friday, right?"_

"Yes, ma'am," Harry responded. "Also, we have a pool, so anyone swimming will have to bring the appropriate clothes."

" _Okay, thanks for the warning._ " When the phone call was over, Harry sighed with relief, going back to his ice cream. On their way home, James stopped at the store buying freezer ice cream for Remus and Sirius.

"Only to be fair." He said, making Harry laugh. At home, Harry pushed the ice cream into the freezer as James called up the stairs. "We're home!" a thump sounded from their room and Harry looked up, wincing. It must have hurt to fall to make a sound that loud. When Remus came down the stairs, he smiled at Harry, helping him put the ice cream into the freezer. Everything was in the way. He grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Is Sirius okay?" Harry asked, causing Remus to looked at him in confusion. "I heard one of you fall and I figured it wasn't you because you're able to walk so easy."

"Sirius is..." Remus' eyes darted around looking for the correct words. "... a bit under the weather." James made a sound that was similar to a gag. "He'll be fine." Harry looked between Remus and his father, feeling confused. Then, as if the realization slowly crept up on Harry, his eyes widened as he looked at Remus.  
"Oh my god!" Harry closed his eyes as he looked away. "Oh, gross!" He walked away from that, trying not to think of anything. That didn't seem to be working, instead, he tried to think of something other than his uncle and...  
The pool. Think of the pool. The pool party. Food. Think of food. Anything but that.

* * *

This town was, as far as Harry was concerned, amazing. He was finally out of a uniform and in regular jeans and a tank top with his hair pinned back and was excited to spend the day with his family. There was an arcade, a large movie theatre, three different bookstores, a movie store, four different types of takeaway and even a public pool inside of a community centre. "We don't need to look inside, Harry," James started at Harry's suggestion, "We have a pool at home."

Harry looked at Sirius for just a moment, saying 1,000 words with that look. "It's just for fun. There are other things than just the pool." Harry watched as Sirius put his hand on James' shoulder.

"This is the day to look through everything and discover the town." Harry grinned widely, grabbing his father's shirt sleeve.

"C'mon!" He pulled and James let himself be dragged along. The entrance fee was five dollars per adult- Harry felt important when James had said four adults- and they took the time to look around, looking into the tennis court, the look over for the pool, which was a bit smaller than the Potter pool, and the weightlifting room. When they passed the basketball court, Harry peaked in.

He couldn't hold his gasp at what he saw, and could absolutely not believe. Wearing regular clothes- a loose T-shirt and gym shorts- and playing the game he had no clue what was going on was his asshole of a science partner. Apparently hearing the gasp, Draco stopped what he was doing and turned around just as the ball came back at him, hitting him in the face. Harry let out a squeak at the sight, walking forward. He never meant for that to happen.

Draco was covering his face as he hissed. "Are you okay?" Draco's hands ripped away from his face and it revealed an angry red mark in the centre of his pale face. Harry couldn't hold back the laugh that rumbled out of his chest.

"Does it look like I'm okay? Why do you care?"

"Well, I was kind of the cause and I wanted to make sure your nose wasn't broken or something."

"If it is, you're paying for it."

"Are you basing it off the rumour that I can't afford it or the rumour that I could buy the whole hospital?"

"Either. As long as you're paying for it." Draco put out his hand to ask for help up.

"I- I don't touch people's skin." Draco scowled at Harry.

"Why?" Harry pulled back. In all of the time that he had not liked touch, he never actually considered it. No one ever asked him. Why didn't he like touch? When did it start? He couldn't remember. He went from being okay to not liking when people touch him. Every time he mentioned it, no one ever asked.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."

"Then how do you know you're still like that?" Harry shrugged, rocking on the balls of his feet.

"Because I am. I get sick whenever I someone touches my skin. I mean, animals are okay. And it's okay to touch my clothes. I'm not afraid of germs or anything."

"Harry." He looked back to see Sirius, Remus, and James all walking forward. "Who's this?" James asked.

"A classmate. My science partner." Harry stood to meet his family. As they were walking away, Sirius began to talk.

"Harry, do you-" Remus elbowed him in the rib. "Do- do you want floaties? For the party?"

"Why would I? I know how to swim."

"Maybe some of the people coming don't."

"I guess so. Let's get them now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Yay! I have no life outside of writing and Tumblr, so this is the occasional reminder to visit me [there](http://that-artistic-tortilla.tumblr.com/)

The first class being science, he was met with Draco walking up to him before class started. "What's this I hear about you having a party?"

"I don't know what you heard, but it's going to be Hermione, Ron, and his family plus others if Hermione brings them."

"What would you say to-"

"No," Harry interjected, knowing what Draco was going to offer. The other teen's demeanour fell almost instantly, leaving him looking vulnerable.

"Why not?"

"You've been nothing but rude to one of the people going. Not only do I not accept that, but neither does my father or uncle or their friend." Draco was, for lack of a better word, pouting. "Why do you even want to go? Don't you have richer, more important people to hang out with?" Draco slumped down in the chair next to Harry, putting his head on the desk. Harry thought, for a split second, that if he wasn't so rude, Draco might even be attractive. His sharp, pale features contrasted Harry's perfectly, and it seemed to make a pretty picture in Harry's head.

But then he remembered who he was thinking about and shook the thought from his head. After math class, he was headed to life science, when someone walked up behind him and Hermione. When he saw stark blond hair and pale skin, he sighed. "No." Draco threw his arms up in defeat, walking ahead.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked, looking at his retreating form.

"He heard about the party and wanted to come, but I don't want him causing a scene. With you and Ron's family there, I don't think he could help himself." The day was, again, relatively normal until art, where he came up to them again.

"If you just let me-"

"No." Draco stormed away back to his table.

"I wonder why he wants to so bad?"

"Maybe to get dirt on me or something. Maybe he's actually an undercover agent and is trying to find out if I'm a spy." Hermione laughed out loud, covering her face. Feeling a prickling in his spine, Harry looked back to see Draco watching them. When he noticed that Harry noticed, he turned around quickly. "You know, maybe he wants to get closer to someone at the party?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think he likes you," Harry mentioned, causing Hermione to laugh out loud again.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, he was watching us just a minute ago." She snorted.

"Maybe it's you he likes." Harry was confused.

"Didn't you and Ron say last week that it was weird?"

"We asked you if you thought it was weird." Harry nodded, turning his attention back to his work. He would worry about all that later.

For that day's detention, Harry was careful to ask questions. "What will I be writing Mr Snape?" The man hummed.

"You have the ability to learn. Something I'm sure you did not get from your father." Harry gritted his teeth, sitting down. "You, for this day, will write I will not talk back until the hour is over." Harry pulled out paper and a pencil and started to write in clear and careful words. His fingers were cramping and he was hungry, but he kept working, eager to go home.

When he turned the paper in at the end of the hour, Snape hummed. "That's unfortunate." Harry felt his eye twitch.

"What is?"

"I wanted it in pen."

"Then why- you know what? Nevermind. Can I come Thursday?"

"Wednesday."

"I can't Wednesday. I have a doctor's appointment."

"Then you should have thought of that ahead of time."

"We did," Harry took a deep breath, "That's why it's after school instead of during class." Snape scowled. It honestly seemed like he was doing it just to torture Harry.  
"Very well. You will come Thursday." On his way out, Harry threw his backpack into the back seat, slamming the door, before climbing into the front seat.

"What happened?" Sirius asked from the driver seat.

"Where's dad?"

"We can talk about that later. What happened?" All at once, the emotions exploded through Harry, pushing out of him in a rush. He kicked the underside of the dashboard.  
"I have detention again! I didn't write in pen and I have detention again!" Sirius reached into the compartment on the side of the door, pulling out a stress ball and tossing it to Harry. Harry started to squeeze it as Sirius drove away from the school. "I am so tired of this! First, it was because he couldn't read it, then I wrote the wrong thing, now it's because of what I chose to write with. Next, he'll be pulling me into detention because he doesn't like the way I write a certain letter." Sirius just nodded along, seeming to not be listening. At this point, Harry couldn't care less either way. "Can you tell me where dad is now?"

"Did you know we had neighbours? They live down the street a bit."

"No, but what does that have to do with Dad?"

"Well, he is, as the master of the house, entertaining the guests of the neighbours that we didn't know we had." Harry winced. "That's why it's me getting you. Remus had locked himself in the basement and James was entertaining, so I was given the privilege of picking you up."

"Such an honour."

"They're nice people, from what I heard. They have to sons. One of them is in eighth grade, the other in seventh."

"So next year they'll be going to my school?"

"Well, the older one." When they pulled in and Harry walked into the door, he was met with the smell of fresh baking and the sound of laughter from the dining room. He walked in to see James sitting with two very pale people with blonde coloured hair.

"Dad?" He smiled and stood, putting his hand on Harry's back.

"Harry. These are our neighbours." He looked at the two as they looked back and smiled. Harry nodded at them, looking at his father. "They brought home cooked food, which is amazing. The Creevey's have been here for..."

"Seventeen years." The woman informed him. Harry smiled weakly.

"Isn't that amazing? They said that before we moved here, no one had lived here the entire time."

"I wonder why."

"No clue. Maybe it's haunted."

"Or maybe it was far too expensive for anyone's taste." James laughed out loud, drinking the rest of his drink in one sitting. Harry looked for anyone to save him, seeing Sirius in the distance and begging with his eyes.

Sirius walked over, leading James back to the table where the other two adults were. "Harry has homework and wanted Remus' help, so he can do that," Sirius mentioned, offering him an out. Harry was thanking however many gods the actually existed before sliding into the basement door. Before it closed, he could hear James talking.  
"Oh, god. Where'd Harry gone? Oh, my son. I love him, you know? He's the only child I have and I love him so, so much."

"C" mon, James," Sirius ordered. "Sit down."

"You know, Sirius, I really love Harry."

"As you tell me every single time you get like this." Harry closed the door, walking downstairs to see Remus reading quietly in the chair that was farthest from the door. When Harry walked in, he put the marker in his book and set it down.

"What's up, Harry?"

"Uh..." Where to start? "Whatever the neighbours gave dad to drink, I think he's a bit drunk right now and Sirius let me come down here." He sat next to Remus, noticing the book he was reading. "The Oddessy?" Remus looked up, then at the book.

"Oh, yes. It had recently been suggested to me and I thought I would take a gander." Harry snorted at the word, adjusting in his seat to face Remus.

"What's it about?" Those words seemed to set Remus off, causing him to talk animatedly, using his hands to demonstrate his point. Harry thought, at that moment, maybe Remus isn't so bad. He's never actually done anything wrong. Harry was just slightly upset that he was getting more of Sirius' attention, but since they moved, that hadn't been true. In fact, it seemed like they both wanted Harry's attention equally.

Harry wondered if he did anything for Remus to like him enough to want his attention. Maybe it was just Sirius talking about Harry that caused it. Harry decided that it didn't really matter. Everyone loved him a much he loved them all, so he was quite happy.

* * *

For the open house, he expected just his father to go. He did not suspect that Sirius and Remus would tag along, even though he should have been expecting it.

Harry decided he wanted to get it over with so he started on the top floor with science. His father had decided to stay outside of the room. When questioned by Remus, his response was, "So not to get into a fight with Harry's science teacher."

Sirius, however, had other plans. When they walked in Snape looked up, then scowled. "Black."

"Snape."

"So he's still living with you? It's a surprise that he hadn't died by now."

"If you're talking about Harry, I think Lily did a well enough job raising him. We just kind of took over."

"Why is that? Did she grow enough brains to leave Potter? Maybe that's why the child is living with you. He looks too much like his father." Sirius tensed, but his face was smiling. He turned around.

"Hey, Harry." His voice made a shiver run down Harry's spine. "Why don't you keep your father company for a few minutes." Harry looked from his godfather to his teacher to the door. "It'll be fine. I just want to share a few words with your teacher." As Harry backed away, he stared at Sirius.

"Don't do anything to get me kicked out of school." He whispered. He closed the door, staring at it from the outside.

"where is Sirius?" Harry pointed towards the door. "Well, this isn't going to go well." Something glass broke from the inside and Harry startled.

"Do we... should we do something?" Harry asked as he watched Remus and James look at each other. Before anyone could even react, the door opened and Sirius walked out. When Harry peeked in, his teacher was holding onto his own hand and Harry saw a beaker on the floor.  
"You won't have to go to detention on Thursday, Harry. Let's go. Next class, right?" Sirius mentioned, walking through the hall. Harry and his father shared a look before following to his math class. Sirius seemed to be trying to warm up to Mrs Mcgonagall, but she wasn't even paying attention to him, instead focusing on James.

"James Potter. It's good to meet you again." They shook hands briefly. "I will admit that I am surprised that you on has caught on rather quickly. It took a day or two, but he has caught up with everything that the students here are working on." Harry's eyes widened. He had no idea that she was proud of him. "My only complaint would be that he is rather jumpy, moving away from a student that tried to grab a piece of paper, but as Mr Potter had informed me, he can't exactly help that, can he?" After that, the night went smoothly, Harry only losing his father in a crowd once and Remus only asked once about his scars, to which he responded by saying that they were a product of movie makeup and running next to Sirius.

On the way home, they stopped for fast food. Harry looked at them, noticing what a crew they made. It was obvious that James and Harry were related, but then there was tall, thin, tattooed Sirius and tall, heavier built, pale Remus. As Harry ate chicken nuggets and french fries, he looked up at his family.

"Can we get a dog?" They all three looked up at once.

"Why?" Sirius was the first to ask. Harry simply shrugged, taking another bite.

"I like dogs and it could keep you guys company while I'm at school."

"Dogs are a big responsibility, you know," James mentioned, looking at his son.

"I know. I already have Hedwig and I'm responsible for her."

"And you can't just abandon it when it gets too big."

"I like big dogs, much better than when they're babies. Maybe we can go to a shelter and get an already adult dog." Sirius and James shared a look, communicating in the way that they did without words.

"We can go after the party you have planned." Harry smiled widely and nodded.

* * *

The next day, he was in art when a shrill ring filled the room. He ignored it until someone walked up to the table. Ms Sinistra had a soft smile on her face. "Your father is here," She whispered so not to disturb other students. "You're leaving." He nodded, gathering his things and smiled at Hermione.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled back before returning to the work. As he walked out. he noticed that another pair of eyes were watching him, but he didn't stop to return the gaze.

His father was waiting in the office and moving his leg in a jittery movement. When James noticed his presence, he stood quickly. He nodded to Mrs Figg as he ushered Harry out. "Why are you early?" Harry asked.

"She had to reschedule a bit earlier but next week will be normal. Is that okay?" Harry nodded as they left the building.

"I have nothing I should be doing instead, so I don't mind." The drive was relatively quiet, Harry watching his surroundings as they drove to an unfamiliar part of town. He watched the buildings change from residential to business related. His father stopped the car at a highrise building that from the car, Harry couldn't see the top of.

When they stepped out, Harry looked up, noticing how professional it looked. "Let's go," James instructed, leading Harry to the front door. After talking to the secretary, James walked Harry to the elevator. "Seventh floor, Harry." He touched the button next to the seven and the dots on the board and jolted when the elevator started to rise. In the back of the elevator was a window looking out into the street. He watched, mesmerized, as the street fell away and the people shrank in size. At a ding, Harry turned around and walked out with his father to the front desk. The man at the desk was in a proper suit that was all black and made Harry feel immature to be wearing a school uniform.

"Can I help you?" He asked, looking from James to Harry and back.

"Yea. Harry Potter is here to meet Dr Pomfrey." The man clicked away at the computer in front of him, a clunky looking thing, and hummed.

"Potter. You're not due for another hour." James looked confused for a moment.

"Oh!" He dug into the folder that he hand, pulling out a piece of paper. "She called me this morning and rescheduled." He handed the paper to him and he looked it over.  
"Very well. I'll let her know you are here." Harry nodded and they walked to the chairs that were presented. When sitting, Harry reached into his bag and pulled out his Gameboy. He hadn't had much time to play it recently, so it was a pleasant change.

He sat there playing his game until he noticed that James' shadow covered him. "What one is that?"

"Legend of Zelda." He responded, pausing the game to look at his father. Through the week that they'd lived here, his father grew more tired looking. He had bags under his eyes and his skin looked sickly. "Are you okay, Dad?" James pulled back, looking at his son, curiously.

"Of course. Why would I not be?"

"You just look very tired." James' eyes softened and he looked like his mind was far away.

"I... I'm fine. Just thinking a lot." He put a reassuring hand on Harry's arm over the uniform jacket. "We'll be fine." When a door opened, both Potters looked up to see a plump older woman motioning for Harry to walk forward. He looked at James who smiled encouragingly, before walking into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love the idea of oblivious Harry. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While working on the next chapter, the computer crashed so I lost most of it T-T

As soon as Harry walked into the room, he was assaulted with the scent of lemon which had him sniffing the air. He hummed pleasantly. "Please, sit." Dr Pomfrey edged him towards the chair in front of her desk. When he did sit, he noticed a candle on the surface of her desk. Was that where the smell was coming from? "Lemon has a way to relax the mind."

"I'm more partial to the apple scent myself," Harry explained absently, then realized what he said. "N- not that I'm ungrateful about the lemon." She sat in her seat, giving a soft chuckle in response. 

"I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Poppy Pomfrey." He smiled and gave an awkward wave. 

"Harry Potter." She looked at her notes in a folder.

"Now, it says here that when you were twelve, you had your name legally changed?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Can I ask why that is?" Harry tensed looking at the door, almost looking for a place to escape to. He knew his father was outside of the room, but that didn't calm his nerves. "Harry, anything you tell me in this room will stay in this room. I can even keep certain things out of my notes if you so wish even though those never leave my sight."

"It... was because... I- I-" His mouth felt like he was trying to swallow cotton.

"You're transgender." He jumped at the word, sounding strange coming out of her mouth. 

"Yes, ma'am." His voice came out as no more than a whisper. 

"Is that why your legal gender was changed as well?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How did your father take this news?"

"A- at first, he didn't understand. I guess I mentioned that I felt like a boy when I was younger than that, but during the start of puberty," His face was getting hot, "was when I outright came out as trans. I didn't even know what it meant at the time."

"And he was confused?"

"He was a bit reluctant to call me a boy at first, but then Sirius and he got into a fight over it saying that it wasn't his place to decide how I was comfortable."

"And Sirius is-?"

"His best friend, but I see him as my uncle." Harry had no idea how any of this was related to him not being able to touch people, but he supposed that Dr Pomfrey was getting to know him. 

"what did your mother think about all of this?"

"She was actually pretty cool about it. She was the first one to ask me what I wanted to change my name to."

"So you chose Harry?" He nodded, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

"I wanted it to be easy for her to remember, you know? I think Dad was most upset that I chose her side of the family to look for a name rather than his." Harry gave a sort of laugh. "He had his heart set on Sahil."

"But you chose from your mother's side?"

"Yea. Her grandfather was named Harry. I just thought it fit better."

"If you don't mind, could you tell me your name before it was changed?" Harry grimaced at the thought. "What's the problem?"

"I haven't used it in... three years."

"But you still remember it?"

"Unfortunately."

"Did you not like it as a name?"

"It was a good enough name, but it didn't fit... me."

"Let's change the subject." Harry sighed with relief. "Let's talk about your mother." Harry tensed, having relaxed far too soon.

"Do we have to?"

"You can't very well ignore the problems, could you?"

"I guess not, but I figured we were going to ease into it."

"Was that the way your old therapist worked things?" Harry nodded meekly. "Well, Mr Potter, you will find that every doctor is different in their methods, just as any therapist, contractor, secretary, artist, or chef." Harry sank further into the chair, having nothing to say in response. "You don't want me to assume you're like every other trans person, would you?" Harry shook his head. "And you wouldn't want me to treat you with stereotypes, would you?" With another shake of his head, he swallowed thickly. 

"I'm sorry." Harry's voice was soft and subtle, hinting at his lack of strength in this conversation. 

"It's quite alright. So, Mr Potter. Tell me about her."

"W- well, she comes from a... less than accepting family." She quirked her eyebrow. "Not her parents or anything. It was actually just... her sister." Why did he say her whole family? They were all lovely. 

"Your aunt?"

"Her name is Petunia. Apparently, she shunned my mother when her relationship with my father was discovered."

"Apparently?"

"I wasn't around when that happened. I heard Sirius talking about it."

"Have you ever met Petunia?"

"Once. She married this awful man named Vernon and had a jerk of a child." She raised her eyebrow, offering for him to keep talking. "When my mom was in the hospital because she had a problem with her kidneys, Petunia and Vernon showed up with their demon child. he pulled my hair and pushed me around and when I pushed back, he cried to his mother saying that I punched him. I remember that Vernon looked at me with disgust as I hid behind my dad."

"Was he..."

"Racist? Yes. He was vocal about the fact that I'm mixed." Dr Pomfrey nodded along, hanging on to every word he was saying. "Petunia even was rude."

"How so?"

"When I was trying to get into the room to see my mother, she purposely blocked the path."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe she didn't like that I was related to her? She hates children that  aren't her own?" Harry took a shaky breath. "When Dudley said that I hit him, she took me by the arm roughly and was pulling me out of the room. I'm not sure what she was going to do if my dad hadn't walked up at that moment."

"Where had he gone?"

"To get food. We were all hungry. He and Sirius were coming back with a bunch of candy and stuff for us to eat. I remember he dropped it when he saw Petunia manhandling me. They got into a huge fight which resulted in Sirius almost punching Vernon in the face and Dad saying that if he ever saw Vernon's face again, he would let Sirius go off on him."

"Did you ever see them again?"

"Not Vernon, but I saw Petunia once more after that."

"When?"

"Mom's funeral." She nodded. It turned out that the hour passed quicker than Harry thought and it was over before he could even finish talking. 

"Would you like a session a week, or every two weeks?"

"That's up to my dad. I don't mind either way." Harry waited in the waiting room while James talked to Dr Pomfrey. It seemed like hours that they were talking before James came back out and led Harry to the elevator. 

"So you'll be going once a week for a while, then after a few months, if you want to cut it down to twice a month, you can." Harry nodded, watching the street come into view slowly. "Hey, Harry. Do you think we can hold off getting a dog until after this party thing?" Harry just shrugged and nodded.

Back in the car, Harry turned on the radio. Switching between the stations, he heard nothing but ads until he found a station of rock music. He pressed his lips together as he listened to the song. 

_ I know I can never win why should I have to wait _

_ I'll just look the other way we left this land of shiny lights _

_ I wish I may, I wish I might when all these dreams have come to end _

_ You wish you were, you're not my friend _

He looked at his father as he tapped his fingers along. "Do you know this song?" James smiled. 

"I've heard it. You like it?"

"It's an interesting song. He sounds familiar. Have I listened to this before?"

"Probably. That's on you to remember." Harry nodded, paying attention to the lyrics, again. 

_ You wish you were, you're not my friend _

_ You said you'd love to see the end _

_ The long hard road that I have been _

_ When all these dreams have come to end _

_ You wish you were, you're not my friend _

"Do you have this album?"

"Harry, I have more music than Remus has books. I'll have to look." Harry nodded again. When home, changed while his dad looked through his albums. When Harry walked back down to the living room, James was waiting. Harry watched his father as he looked at the cover. Why did he look so tired? He never looked like that before Harry's mom died. He was always happy and joyous. Was it because she was gone that he started to feel sad? Was it because of Harry? Was James unhappy being stuck with Harry? He knew that his father missed Lily, but what if-

"What's wrong, Harry?" James' voice pulled Harry out of his head. 

"Sorry. I was..." He took a deep breath. "I was just thinking. Is that it?" He handed it to Harry, so he looked it over. The cover was orange and had a symbol looking like it was sort of spilt into it. Harry put on a false smile. "Thanks. Can we listen to it?" He handed it back. There was a tense moment where James just looked at Harry, grief apparent in his eyes. His eyes were surprisingly watery as he looked at his son. He blinked a few times before looking away.

"Yea. Let's just put it in." He took the disk so Harry walked to the couch. James sat beside him, a distance away as the music played. Harry laid his head back. Closing his eyes, he tried to let the music soothe him. Did his father sit so far away so he wouldn't be close to Harry? But why, if his father was not happy, did he try so hard for Harry? Was it so that Harry wasn't suspecting of it?

Filled with too many emotions, Harry stood, walking up to his room, slamming and locking the door. He looked around his room. By this time, posters were on his walls, he had collectables from his life, and a box full of things that he didn't have a place for. Flopping himself to his bed, he absently watched the ceiling. He had the urge to listen to music, but upon sitting up, he realized that his bag was still downstairs and flopped back down. With a sigh, he remembered that he had math homework. One bad grade wouldn't kill his GPA. would it? 

He next looked over to the cage that held his snow owl. With a smile, he stood and walked over. When he stroked her feathers, she hooted, her feathers fluffing up. "You know you're really pretty, right?" Hedwig turned her head slightly before she began to bob her head. He chuckled. "So you understand compliments, but not when I tell you not to leave your rat vomit on my bed?" 

At hearing the sound of knuckles against wood, Harry turned around, looking at it with suspicion. He waited in silence. Maybe they'll think he went to sleep. No such luck could happen and whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again.

"Who is it?"

"Sirius." The door told him.

"What do you want?"

"To talk?" He offered with a questioning tilt to his voice.

"You never come to my room just to talk. What do you want?"

"C'mon, Harry. I just want to talk. Will you let me in?" With a resigned sigh, he walked over and unlocked the door without opening it. He walked to his bed just as Sirius walked into his room. Sirius sat down on Harry's bed. The room was suffocating with silence. It was a challenge to see who would break first and Harry wasn't about to be first. Finally, Sirius broke. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

"About what?"

"With James."

"I was just tired."

"Tired people don't walk away and slam the door."

"Well not everyone is the same." Sirius nodded.

"Well, that sounds to me like you're upset about something."

"I'm not upset, Sirius. I'm just tired."

"You can tell me if something is bothering you, Harry. You can trust me with anything." Could he? He wanted to spill his guts, say everything that was on his mind. He wanted the feel validated and know the truth. He wanted to know for a fact that his father didn't see him as a burden, the reason he was losing sleep. He wanted to know if he would ever be able to touch people without getting sick over it. He wanted to scream and fight and cry for the mother that he didn't have anymore. He wanted his mother. He wanted his mother to make sure that James didn't hate him. He wanted a lot, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"I'm fine, Sirius." The man gave a solemn nod and stood from the bed, walking to the door. Before he was all the way out, he turned around, looking Harry in the eye.

"You can come to me if you need anything. You know that right?" Harry gave a fragile sort of smile that didn't last long on his face. 

"I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song referenced was Wish I May by Breaking Benjamin. It was really hard for me to find a song that I know from the correct time, so I went with the album Saturate from 2002.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured that this chapter might be a good time to address that people aren't straight in this fic :D plus, I like the idea of people being multilingual, but my computer wouldn't register the actual script of the Hindi which would make sense if Harry knew that as well, so I just had to go with the words. Again, all food references are from google, so correct me when I'm wrong.

Friday came faster than Harry could keep track. Friday saw him sitting with Hermione to one side and Ron the other while they waited for Harry's dad. The plan was that the three of them would go to Harry's hose first, then after a time, the remainder of the Weasley's would join.

To fight the silence, Harry spoke. "I hope you guys are okay with the food Dad and Remus made." Hermione leaned forward, resting her torso on her legs.

"Why is it always your dad or Remus cooking?"

"Because Sirius would burn the house down." Ron snorted and looked at the distance.

"Is that him?" Harry looked up as well to see the car driving towards them.

"Yep. Let's go." Harry sat in front while Hermione and Ron sat in the back. The ride was relatively silent, all of the car occupants listening to the radio.

"I have to stop at the store." James asked, "Is that okay?" Harry looked back and both of his friends nodded.

"Yea, it's fine. Can we listen to the radio?"

"Sure." Hermione made a distressed noise, so Harry looked back and saw that she was looking at them nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"Won't that waste the battery?" James shrugged as he pulled into the parking lot.

"It's only a few minutes. It'll be fine." When his dad climbed out of the car, Harry turned the radio station.

"What do you guys want to listen to?" When scanning through the stations, he heard music so he stopped, then laughed out loud.

_ And girls—they wanna have fun, oh, girls just wanna have fun _

_ The phone rings in the middle of the night _

_ My father yells, "What you gonna do with your life?" _

_ Oh daddy dear, you know you're still number one _

_ But girls—they wanna have fun, oh, girls just wanna have... _

He looked back to see Hermione smiling as well. Ron sighed and leaned forward to the front seat, changing the station again. "Listen, Harry. I get that you don't mind what you listen to, but I'm not into girly music." Harry snorted, but let him change the station. He found the rock station that Harry found on Wednesday.

_ Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb _

_ Maybe get a blister on your little finger maybe get a blister on your thumb _

_ We got to install microwave ovens custom kitchen deliveries _

_ We got to move these refrigerators we gotta move these colour TV's _

_ See the little ------  with the earring and the make up _

_ Yeah buddy that's his own hair _

Harry winced at the word cut out because he knew what it was, but let the music play. When that song was over a commercial came on. "It's my turn." Hermione pulled Ron back and leaned forward. He thought that Ron would be scandalized, but when he looked in the side mirror, his face was as red as his hair. Looking at Hermione, he understood why. He leaned close to Hermione's ear.

"Put your bottom down." He whispered and she yelped as she rushed to sit down.

"I'm sorry." he cried.

"It was an accident." She looked ashamed as she gripped her skirt in her fists. "Pick your station, Hermione." Stiffly, she leaned forward, changing the station of the radio. When she picked a station, she was quick to sit back down.

_ They're just photos after all" I can't make you hang around. _

_ I can't wash you off my skin. Outside the frame, is what we're leaving out _

_ You won't remember anyway I can go with the flow _

_ But don't say it doesn't matter anymore I can go with the flow _

_ Do you believe it in your head? It's so safe to play along _

_ Little soldiers in a row falling in and out of love _

At this, Harry spawned an idea. "We can listen to my music. It's much more selective." He pulled the headphones out of his MP3, then opened the glove box looking for the thing his dad used to do it before. it looked like a cassette tape but had a cord where you could plug things into it and listen to the music like that. When he didn't find it in the glove box, he opened the centre console. looking through it, his heart skipped a beat in his chest. Why was there...

"Do you need help looking?" Ron asked, so he looked up at his friend.

"N- no. It's here somewhere." Ignoring it for now, he looked through the compartment and found it. "See?" He tried to smile, but Hermione was watching him warily. He just smiled and plugged it in, handing the player to Ron. He looked through it, picking out a song.

Where do bad folks go when they die? They don't go to heaven where the angels fly

They go down to the lake of fire and fry won't see 'em again till the fourth of July

I knew a lady who came from Duluth she got bit by a dog with a rabid tooth

She went to her grave just a little too soon flew away howling on the yellow moon

He tried to pay attention to the music. It all just flew by him as he sat there looking at the floor. When the driver side door opened, he watched as his father popped the trunk open and waited for his father to come back. "You guys ready?" Ron sat back down.

"Yep." Finally, at home, Hermione walked straight to Remus, giving him the books she borrowed.

"Thanks." He mentioned, looking at the books as if he didn't expect to see them again.

"Can I borrow some more?" Ron rolled his eyes. Remus led Hermione to the library. Ron was looking around the house like he had never seen anything like it. Harry sighed, tapping Ron's shoulder.

"Hey, wanna see Sirius' motorbike?" His eyes lit up brightly and he nodded, so Harry walked to the basement door, opening it to yell, "Hey, Remus! Where's Sirius?"

"He should be in the room, why?"

"I want to show Ron his motorbike and I'm not allowed around his precious baby without him there." Remus let out a laugh at his comment. He closed the door and motioned for Ron to follow him through the house to the stairs leading up.

"How many floors does this place have?"

"Counting the basement, four." They walked upstairs together.

"Whose room is this?" He asked, pointing.

"That's mine. This is Sirius and Remus' room. Upstairs is Dad's room and the guest room. In the basement are the library, the playroom, and the garage where Sirius' motorbike is." He knocked on the correct door, waiting for a response.

"So where are the bathrooms?" Harry snorted at his question.

"Each room has its own bathroom and there's a separate bathroom in the basement."

"So you really are super rich."

"Not really. There's always someone that has more money. I don't like to think about it." He reached up to knock again just as the door opened. Sirius was looking like he just woke up, his eyes were half-lidded with sleep and his hair was down and was a total mess. "Were you asleep? I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. I just had a headache. It's fine now. What's up?" Harry turned around to Ron, but Ron was just staring at Sirius. He was wearing a dark blue tank top and sleep pants, so the tattoos all over his arms were visible. When he put his hand on the door frame, Harry watched Ron's eyes follow the movement before turning red. Harry, upon realizing what was going on, turned Ron around.

"Nothing. Nothing is up. go back to sleep. We'll wake you up before the party starts." Harry ushered Ron to his room and closed the door. Harry put his ear to the door, listening as Sirius' door closed. Turning back around, Ron was sitting on his bed, face in his hands. "What was that all about?"

Ron moved his hands away from his mouth, trying to keep the remainder of his face covered. Harry could still see how red it was. "I don't know! I have no idea." Ron sighed, moving his hands from his face. "When you talked about your uncle, I didn't know he was so-" He made a vague movement with his hand. Harry didn't understand what that meant, so he just assumed what Ron was meaning

"I already told you he had a lot of tattoos, Ron." His friend just rolled his eyes. "I get that they're cool, but that's no reason to freeze like that." Ron wiped his hands down his face. "Are you going to be able to swim when the time comes?" Ron nodded silently, looking at the floor. "I'll be back. I'm gonna ask Dad when we're able to start swimming."

He walked downstairs and found his father outside. "Hey, Kiddo. What's up?"

"When are we able to start swimming?"

"As soon as you want, really." Harry nodded and made his way back up the stairs where Ron hadn't moved.

"We can swim now. You can use my bathroom to change if you want." Ron nodded and stood, walking his backpack to the room. While he was in there, Harry pulled out his swim trunks, a black shirt, and the compression shirt he has specifically for swimming. When Ron came out of the room, Harry walked in, locking the door. First came off his school uniform, which left him in his underclothes and a tank top. He pulled the red and yellow swim trunks on, then the top, which he had to hold his breath while he did, then pulled on his shirt. When he walked out, putting his clothes on the desk, he noticed Ron was looking at him. "What's up?"

"Why are you wearing a shirt?" Harry's heart skipped.

"I'm just more comfortable like this. Plus it makes it easier for people not to touch my skin. Let's go tell Hermione we can swim." Leading Ron, Harry walked down the stairs and to the library, where she and Remus were both sitting and reading. "Ready to swim, you bookworm?" Hermione looked up just as Remus did and Harry snorted. Hermione grabbed her bag from the floor.

"Where can I change?"

"There's a bathroom in the next room, or you can use mine." Hermione nodded, her hair bouncing around her face.

"I'll use yours."

"You know where it is. I'm gonna go swim." Hermione nodded and they collectively walked up the stairs, Hermione turning as he and Ron walked outside. James was sitting by the pool in a chair that was hidden from the sun by a large umbrella. His eyes were closed, so Harry put his finger to his lips. telling Ron to be quiet. Walking to the other side of the pool, Harry ran and jumped in, splashing his father as he did. When Harry breached the water's surface, he looked up to see his father sitting up, soaked in water and laughed. Hermione walked out of the house then, wearing a green bikini with pink splotches around it. She was holding herself as if she was embarrassed.

"C'mon!" Harry instructed. "Get in." Ron jumped in just as Harry had before, but Hermione touched the water with her feet first before sliding in the rest of the way. Harry pulled himself out of the water and walked around, stepping onto the diving board. He ran down it, flipping as he jumped, splashing into the pool. He could hear Hermione laughing from under the water and swam up, seeing her wiping her face from the water. For a long time, Ron, Hermione, and he took turns jumping from the diving board. When he heard the sound of a car, he pulled out of the water and grabbed a towel and dried himself a bit before walking through the house. He wondered where his father had gone, but never minded it when he heard someone knock on the front door. He walked over to it, opening it to see a nervous group of redheads. He opened the door further.

"The pool is through the house out to the back. If anyone needs to change, you can use one of the many bathrooms available." The woman who he assumed was Mrs Weasley smiled as she leads her children and husband into the house. The smallest one and the only girl looked at him and turned away, her face going red. Harry rolled his eyes as he closed the door.

When he walked back outside to the pool, the twins were both pulling off their shirts. "Boys." Mrs Weasley snapped. They looked at her, then Harry.

"Thanks for inviting us all." One of them held his hand out silently asking for a handshake.

"S- sorry. I don't touch the other people." The other twin punched the first in the arm.

"Ron told you that."

"I thought he was joking." He looked back at Harry and waved his hand. "Anyways." Harry nodded, "George." He said pointing to his twin. The other pointed to the first.

"Fred." Harry busted out laughing.

"So you're Fred and you're George?" He asked, pointing at the respective twin. They both shared a smile and nodded. When everyone was in the pool who wanted to be, Harry walked back inside. Downstairs, he found Sirius sitting on Remus' lap. His eyes widened and he turned around when he noticed that they were kissing.

"What's up, Harry?" Sirius asked.

"I thought you were in bed?"

"Well, I came down to be with Remus."

"Whenever you're ready, we're all swimming, so you can join us. Do you know where Dad is?"

"He should be in the kitchen. If not, he'd probably be in his room." Harry nodded, walking out of the room and up to the top floor. He knocked on the door.

"Dad? You in there?" The door opened and James walked out.

"Sorry. I was changing." He looked down at his son. "You know since my clothes were soaking wet." Harry snorted. "Are you sure you wanted to wear black?"

"It's fine, Dad. Come downstairs when you're ready. The Weasleys are here. It's just Mr And Mrs Weasley, Fred and George, and Ginny since Ron was already here."

"Didn't you say they had seven kids?"

"Well, Bill and Charlie are busy doing work and Percy is paying more attention to school work than is probably healthy. So we get to hang out with the younger ones." Harry smiled and made his way down to the pool again with his father on his tail. outside, the adults were all getting to know each other, Sirius and Remus meeting the Weasley parents.

"So. Sirius, is it?" Mr Weasley asked. Sirius nodded, "Ron tells me that you and Remus are... partners?" Harry decided that now was the best time to stop paying attention and jumped back into the pool.

When he heard his name, he turned around to see George- he at least thought it was George- so he walked over. "Can we get on the diving board?"

"Of course." The boy in question swam over and flicked Ron in the ear before pulling himself out of the pool and walking over. When he jumped in, Harry climbed out of the water to follow in his tracks.

Usually, Harry is rather good at keeping standing when he has to, but this time, when Harry was walking down the board, he lost his footing. He didn't know exactly how he did, but falling into the water head first proved to be a problem. When he felt water gush into his nose, he could practically feel it sloshing around in his face. As he pulled out of the water, he looked around to see where he was. In the centre of the pool, he swam to the shallow side. Everyone had stopped swimming and was looking at him, including the adults outside of the pool.

"What's-"

"Harry, your nose." He looked behind himself as  Hermione spoke. His nose? When he put his hand to his nose, it came back red. He cursed under his breath as he held his nose and climbed out of the pool via the stairs.

"Let's go get it cleaned up," James instructed, walking with him inside. James handed him a paper towel. "I should probably tell them you're okay." Harry nodded and watched his father walked out the door. He heard the speech through the open door. "Don't worry. He's okay. It's happened before. Whenever he gets too much pressure on his face too quickly, like falling face first into a pool or when he get's water in his nose from swimming, for instance, this happens."

"Why?" He heard a boy ask.

"It's been like that ever since he hurt his head. He's fine, don't worry." He looked at the paper towel, which was already soaked with blood. Sighing, he grabbed another just as he heard the doorbell ring.

"Who uses the doorbell?" He yelled to his father, "I'll get it." Before walking to the door. Harry opened the door to see blonde hair and pale skin. He was wearing regular jeans and a red button shirt. "What are you doing here?"

Draco looked Harry up and down, from his swimming trunks to his shirt, to the towel held against his face and his wet hair. It took a moment for Draco to respond. "I was invited." He explained, then winced.

"By who?"

"Your father. It was... it was at the open house."  Harry took a deep breath.

"Dad!" He yelled through the house. His father walked through the room. "Did you invite him?" James, who didn't seem to understand what was going on, nodded.

"He thought I was you because of my face, or something and came up, talking about wanting to come, so after the whole thing was cleared up, I invited him." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Do you have something to swim in?" Draco opened his mouth, but then closed it.

"No." With another roll of his eyes, Harry motioned for him to follow.

"You can borrow a pair of my trunks."

"Would I even fit? Your waist is rather small." Harry stopped and turned around.

"Then borrow my dads if they don't fit." Ignoring the person behind him, Harry walked into his room and flipped on the light. He tore out a pair of blue trunks and tossed them at Draco. "My bathroom is through there." He was in there for what seemed like forever and Harry went through a mental checklist of what he kept in his bathroom. A first aid kit, baby powder, a razor that he doesn't use, his own box of Hello Kitty band-aids, tweezers and a nail clipper, his robe, and a towel, his purple loofa, face wash, shampoo, conditioner and cologne. What could he be doing?

When the door finally opened, Harry felt his face start to warm up. Draco was rather fit, having lean muscles and it made Harry's mouth dry. Is eyes first locked onto the mark that Harry knew was a tattoo that was cutting into the stark white of his skin on the left side of his abdomen. It looked like a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth and winding around it.  He fit into the trunks fairly well and Harry's belly was getting a tight feeling swirling around. Draco smirked at Harry.

"Like what you see?"

"You? You wish." Harry swallowed thickly, keeping his eyes on Draco's face. He stepped forward. "I will tell you this only once. You get no second chances. If you say anything mean at all to anyone, I will personally drag you out by your hair, alright?" Draco nodded as he tried to back away to get Harry out of his personal space. "Say it."

"I won't say anything rude. To anyone. For any reason."

"Now if you could keep that attitude all day every day, we could probably be friends." Draco nodded again saying he understood, so Harry moved away and walked out of the room. When he realized that Draco wasn't following, he looked back into his room to see Draco hadn't moved. "Are you coming, or did you change just to stand there?" Draco hurried to follow. When Harry opened the door and walked out with Draco following, everyone looked up at them. "Draco's here. He promised not to be a prat, so get along with him."

Harry had to wait to get in because of his nose, so he just splashed his feet in while sitting on the side. He listened to the adults talking.

"I'm just saying," Mrs Weasley was saying, "every boy needs a woman in his life." He had to actually try not to respond. "It won't come with Sirius or Remus." Harry swallowed thickly, noticing that Draco was on the other side of the pool sitting in the same position he was, looking over the crowd of people who were enjoying themselves. "I know that you are trying to get over your wife, but maybe it's time you try dating."

"No offence to you, Molly, but I'm happy living with my son and my best friend. We've lived this long and even included Remus in our lives, so we are completely content without Harry thinking I'm trying to replace Lily."

Harry swallowed thickly. Is that the only reason he hasn't moved on? Because Harry might think that he was trying to replace his mom? Harry, not wanting to hear anymore, stood up and walked around the pool and sat down next to Draco.

"You know, just because I'm not in, doesn't mean that you can't get in."

"That's not-" Draco was suddenly turning a lovely shade of pink and looked away from Harry. "That's not why I'm not getting in."

"So why aren't you?" Draco mumbled something under his breath. "What?" Harry leaned closer to listen.

"I don't..." Draco took a breath, his whole face turning red all the way to his hairline. "I don't know how to swim." Harry had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud. "It's not funny."

"No, no. You're right. Would you like a floaty? We bought a bunch for in case someone couldn't swim." Draco looked at him, eyes wide.

"That would be far too embarrassing." Harry rolled his eyes, standing up. He walked to the shed in which they kept all of their pool supplies. He pulled out as many pool noodles as he could carry in one arm, an inflatable bed for the pool and a pool ring that was big enough for two people. He threw most of them into the pool, one of the noodles hitting Ron in the back causing him to sink in the water.

"I'm sorry!" Harry called, before handing one of the last pool noodle to Draco. He was looking up at Harry with a look in his eyes that Harry didn't have the time to interpret before he turned away. Harry made his way back to his father. James was smiling with pride. "Can I get back in?"

"Yea. Go ahead. Just no more going on the diving board today."

"Okay." He went down the stairs rather than jumping in and spent the rest of the time messing around with Ron. He ended up accidentally starting a splash fight, which escalated into a water gun fight. While the adults took their turn in the pool- Sirius dunked James and they ended up getting into a competition- the kids all split into teams for the water gun fight. Fred and George, Ron and Hermione and Ginny wanted to be on her own which left Draco and Harry to a team. Harry was glad that everyone was getting along. He ran behind the house, Draco following. Running to the front of the house he aimed his gun at Ron, spraying him with the gun. When he saw Hermione aiming the gun, he ducked, which is when Draco shot his, getting her front wet. Harry laughed out loud, standing up. When the back of his head was suddenly wet and cold, he turned around to see long red hair receding behind the side of the house. He ran back, following Ginny as she ran to the backyard. He turned the corner, just to be attacked from both sides. He laughed again, doubling over.

"I can't believe you guys teamed up." George and Fred both put their hand on one of Ginny's shoulders.

"Sorry, Harrykins. Family means everything." He watched as Ginny pointed the gun at George, then Fred, spraying them both. "You're dead to me." Harry fell to the ground laughing as Draco finally rounded the corner.

"Fred and George are out. It's just you and Ginny now." Draco grinned, backing behind the building just as Ginny ran in the other direction. Harry stood up, picking up his gun, following Draco. He walked to the front just in time to see Ginny and Draco pointing their guns at each other. Harry was watching a standoff. He didn't know who shot first, but he first noticed that Draco was soaked. Harry couldn't help but watch the water trail down his chest to be soaked up by the trunks he was wearing.

When he looked up to Draco's face, the other was looking at him as well. He felt heat creep up his face at being caught, but Draco hadn't said anything. "Kids! It's dinner time." James called, making Harry break eye contact with Draco to lead everyone to the kitchen. When he saw the large selection of food, he sat down, piling it onto his plate. When James cleared his throat, Harry looked from him to the group of mostly redheads as they all looked at the food.

"Right." He pointed to the closest food. "This is chicken tikka Masala." He pointed to the next plate. "Biryani." As he pointed, he talked, "Samosa, Momo, Roti, butter chicken, Palak paneer, and Keema. That group is desserts. They are Jalebi, Gulab Jamun, Modak, and Kaju ki Barfi." He looked around, making sure he got everything. "We thought it was only going to be the Weasleys and Hermione, so I didn't figure I'd have to ask you if you were okay with Indian food." He looked up at Draco, who had a strange look in his eyes again and his face was dusted with pink.

"Fi-" Draco's voice cracked and Ron chuckled. "It's fine."

"Well, dig in. Also, if you have allergies, it's best to let us know right now because Remus and Dad made everything so they know what things are in everything." As they sat down to eat, James looked between Harry and Draco.

"Hey, Harry. I forgot to mention with everything going on. have you been practising?" He looked up to his father. Prac-

"C'mon, Dad. Really?" His father just grinned.

"One sentence." The others in the house- not counting Sirius- were all watching the exchange with confusion and curiosity.

"Dad," Harry whined, but it wasn't getting to him. He just raised his brow at Harry, who sighed. " _tumhen pata hai main aisa karane se napharat karata hoon main tumhen maaph nahin karega_. " Everyone around the table was looking at Harry in awe. He felt his cheeks flare with heat.

"How many languages do you know?" Hermione asked. Harry felt himself shrink into the chair.

"Are we counting English?" Hermione's eyes lit up.

"No."

"Three." He looked to his right to see Draco sitting there poking at his food with pink staining his face. Why was he blushing? "Hindi, French, and Spanish."

Hermione changed her position so that she was sitting on her legs. "Can you speak French?" He sighed, looking straight at his father.

" _Je te déteste de m'avoir mis dans cette situation. Vous allez le regretter un jour._ " James just laughed out loud. He looked around the table, seeing everyone watching him, except for Draco, who seemed to find more interest in his plate of exotic food with a fairly red face. "Can I be done, now?" James nodded.

"You don't like to speak other languages?" Hermione asked.

"No. It makes me feel out of place." She nodded in understanding. When they were done eating, Mrs Weasley stood.

"I think it's getting late enough. James, thank you for hosting us." Harry was rather sad to have to watch his friends leave. When a phone rang, Draco stood, walking out of the room to the living room. Harry leaned over to see Draco on the phone, pacing back and forth as he talked. Harry turned back to the group, watching all of the Weasleys getting ready to leave.

"Hermione, dear." Molly started. "Would you like us to take you home?"

"No, thank you. My mom is coming here to pick me up." She nodded and smiled, herding her children out of the house.

"I'll see you Monday, Ron," Harry called out the door. Beside him, Hermione peeked out of the door as well to wave. When Harry turned around, Draco was looking at him. The way Draco was stand- his arms around his body and his eyes downcast- made Harry's chest heavy. "What's wrong?"

"My... uh... my mother thought that I would be here for a bit longer and decided to meet with her sister."

"Okay?"

"If she left now, she wouldn't be back for another three hours." Harry looked at the clock on the wall. it was 5:27 so it would leave them at almost 8:30. "And she still has plans because she hadn't seen aunt Bella in a long time."

"Why did she choose today to go to this very distant place?"

"It's hard to explain." Harry figured that maybe he didn't want to talk about it.

"So what do you want to do? Would you like Dad to drive you home?"

"I'd be alone there."

"I could ask Dad if you could stay the night. We have a guest room." Draco's head shot up and he looked at Harry with a questioning look.

"Why would you do that for me? I've been nothing but rude to you and your friends."

"I may not like you, but I'm not completely heartless." Harry walked to the dining room where Remus and James were cleaning up the extra food that was left. Harry picked up a few bowls and started to carry them into the kitchen where the refrigerator was. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yea?"

"Draco needs a place to stay for the night. Can he stay here?"

"Sure. Is he okay?"

"Yea, his mom just isn't going to be in town until late."

"Okay. You don't mind him using some of your clothes?"

"Selectively."

"Of course. Let him know that he can stay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Harry said in Hindi: "You know I hate doing this. I won't forgive you."   
> What Harry said in French: "I hate you for putting me in this situation. You'll regret it one day."  
> The songs used were: Girls Just Wanna Have fun by Cindi Lauper, Money For Nothing by Dire Straits, and Go with The Flow by Queens of the Stone Age.  
> I hope the whole language thing isn't too cheesy and I hope you enjoy  
> *I accidentally updated the wrong fic lol


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to upload this yesterday but got sidetracked, so I'm doing it now. This is gonna be another less happy chapter, but that doesn't happen until later.

In the morning, Harry was woken up by the sound of his father. "Harry! Wake up!" He pulled the blanket further over his head, curling into a ball. "Harry!"

"It's Saturday. Go away." He mumbled. He curled around his pillow and was almost back to sleep when the blanket was ripped from his bed. "Not again." He just pulled into himself, curling into a ball. 

"Is it always like this?" Someone whispered. 

"Pretty much. He gets up for Sirius, but he also threatens to throw Harry in cold water." Tired and a bit nauseous, Harry sat up, looking at the who people in his room. That's when he remembered that no one in his family had blonde hair, and it was, in fact, Draco standing in his room, in his clothes. He felt his face go warm and he looked away.

"Why are you getting me up on a Saturday?" James looked from Draco to Harry. 

"It's almost noon. Sirius and Remus are busy and I want to get food." Harry groaned, grabbing his blanket and pulling it over himself and laying down again.

"There's food in the fridge."

"Not warm food. I want to eat it, not cook it."

"Go without me."

"No can do." He stole the blanket causing Harry to groan. "Get dressed and meet us downstairs." With an irritated sigh, Harry stood and looked around his room. They were going out, but it wasn't a major event or anywhere like school. He could just get by on two tight tank tops and a loose shirt, right?

He settled with a tight tank top and two shirts, one of the long sleeved and light blue, the other short and black. Pulling on shorts, he looked into his mirror. Any idea to control his hair flew out the window with a yawn that made his eyes teary. Harry pulled on his softest socks and walked downstairs heading straight for the kitchen. From the fridge, he pulled out a small vine of grapes.  When he closed the door, he jumped as he saw someone's face in the space. "Jesus!" Harry backed to the counter, holding his chest. "Don't just sneak up on me." Draco looked on in curiosity. His hair wasn't gelled back like Harry was used to and it fell into his face. Reaching up to push it out of his face, Draco's arm flexed and Harry's mouth went dry again. It was at that time that Harry knew why Ron had gone so red yesterday while looking at Sirius. 

It was the muscles, wasn't it? Harry decided to distract himself in any way possible, looking at the floor. Finding interest in the criss-cross pattern that the tiles had, he waited until James had come into the room. "You ready to go?" He nodded, keeping his eyes locked on the floor. They walked out the door, James locking it and when Harry saw the car, he remembered what he found yesterday. At the car, he opened the back door, which prompted the other two to look at him strangely. 

"You can have the front seat." he offered Draco, sitting down and pulling the door closed. Draco seemed to be just as confused, but Harry didn't want to go into details. He still had to talk to his father and he was dreading the conversation. When they both entered the car, he looked out the window. James turned on the radio, so he tapped along with the song, laying his head back. The song swirled around him. 

_ He was looking up at his mother, smiling. She was so beautiful, as she always had been. Harry grabbed her hands and was standing on her feet as they danced together. Harry was only a small child, so she picked him up, holding him in her arms. She started to dance in circles, laughing as she did. She had a beautiful laugh.  _

_ Harry was in the back seat and she was in front, they were listening to the radio. with a smile, she looked at him in the rearview mirror, before turning up the radio slightly. She hadn't seen the truck coming up behind her. Harry grabbed the seatbelt as he closed his eyes, feeling nauseous as the car moved. His body lurched and something warm and wet hit his face. _

He woke up, screaming, looking around to see James and Draco watching him from the front seats. Outside, he saw that they had pulled over and were parked on the side of the road. James' eyes were wide as he looked at his son. Harry wiped his face, then his eyes specifically, raking his fingers through his hair, no doubt making a mess of the locks. 

"Sorry. I fell asleep." Draco was looking at him in a way that he'd never seen on his face before. Was it a concerned look? Harry shook the thought from his head, straightening himself on the seat and cleared his throat. "You can keep driving. I'm hungry." James was hesitant in nodding, turning around, keeping his eye on his son in the rearview mirror. "If you're going to drive, keep your eyes on the road." He napped. He hadn't really dreamed anything significant since they moved. His dreams were always nonsense and confusing. His head hurt and he was a bit disoriented. 

When they pulled into the parking lot, he was eager to get out, finally being able to breathe properly in what seemed like hours. Draco looked like he wanted to talk, but James put his hand on the boy's shoulder, gaining his attention to shake his head as a sign of don't bother, he won't say anything anyways.

When his heart has a semblance of a normal rate, he took a calming breath and stood straight. "Ready to eat?" They collectively walked inside, Harry choosing the higher chairs where his feet didn't touch the ground. With his height, it wasn't hard to find a chair with that height, but he likes that it takes away the shame of being so short. Unless their legs were five feet long, no one is ever able to touch the floor. 

Draco watched him with confusion. "Aren't you going to go order?"

"Dad knows what I want. You go." He situated himself, waiting patiently. It was awkward still since he had that dream in the car, but Harry had found that the best way to work through awkwardness was to pretend that it never happened. After a fretfully long time. Draco and James came back with the tray. He set it down, dishing out food. 

"A chicken sandwich, no lettuce or onions, a medium fry, and a chocolate milkshake." He explained as he gave Harry the food. He started to dig in immediately, grabbing a handful of fries and opening the bun to put them on the sandwich. Harry shushed it together and took a healthy bite. 

When he looked up, he noticed that Draco hadn't eaten, or even moved for that matter. "You okay?"

"You are the strangest person I've ever met." Harry swallowed his mouthful, then took a drink. 

"Why say that?"

"Fries on a sandwich?"

"It's just like putting chips on a peanut butter sandwich. It's an acquired taste." Draco reeled back at that and Harry cackles at his expression. "I don't-" He tries to catch his breath as best he can, "I don't actually-" He needs to stop laughing. "I don't actually eat that, oh my god." Draco almost looked relieved. "No, that's all Sirius. You don't know what you're missing, though."

"I'm missing a mess of food."

"Oh, Draco, it's delicious." He pushed the sandwich in Draco's direction. "Just try it." Draco looked from the sandwich to Harry, to James. 

"I- couldn't." Harry's eyebrows knitted together. He didn't understand why he wasn't going to.

"Why not? Go ahead." Hesitantly, he took a bite and hummed as he chewed. Harry raised his eyebrow, waiting for a response. Draco only sat there looking at the table, chewing. James tapped his arm, so he looked up.

"It's... good." Harry grinned. 

"See?" He took another large bite. "Good, isn't it?" Silently, Draco nodded, taking a bite of his own burger. They ate in relative silence. "So, now that we ate, can we go home?"

"I have to take Draco home. Then we can." Harry threw his things away, drinking down his milkshake fast enough to give him brain freeze. He let it go away before drinking again, finishing it off. "Ready?" Harry nodded and they made their way to Draco's house, following directions. His mother tried to invite them in for a drink, but James denied her, walking with Harry to the car again. "Ready to tell me why you were so upset this morning?" He had forgotten about that.

"Just tired." James dropped it, which seemed very odd for the man to do. In all of Harry's fifteen years, he'd never just dropped their conversation. 

"Do you know what day it is?"

"Saturday?" Harry responded, more than confused.

"No, the day."

"September seventeenth?"

"No special events?"

"Not that I can remember." James nodded, flipping on the radio. It was relatively silent, Harry's eyes always trailing back to the centre console. 

When James looked at the clock, he mumbled, "Sirius and Remus should be done, now," With no further inclination of what they were done doing. When they pulled in, Harry climbed out of the car and walked up the stairs. He turned the handle. but it was locked. 

"I thought you said they were done?" He called down the steps to his father. 

"They're not?"

"The door is locked."

"I'm coming." He walked his father climb the stairs and put the key in the door. When hey walked in, something popped and he jumped as coloured paper fell from the air. Harry looked at his father as he went in and heard the sound of... noisemakers?

Inside, Sirius was standing in front of a giant cake that was three levels tall. It had white icing and blue decorations, a wedding cake topper on the top, but only the groom. Remus was standing beside him awkwardly, noise maker in hand. "Happy Birthday!" Sirius screamed.

"Uh... my birthday is in July?"

"Well, this is the same day, three years ago that you came out to us, so it'll be like a second birthday." Harry felt a bubble of laughter break from his chest. He couldn't help but lean over on himself, laughing until he couldn't breathe. When he looked up, Sirius and Jame were sharing a look, both looking concerned. "Was it not good?"

"No, it's wonderful. I didn't think anyone actually remembered the exact date. I sure didn't." Sirius grinned widely, looking from Remus to James, then at Harry. 

"Happy second Birthday!"

* * *

Sunday seemed like a good day to tear the happiness of the family apart, Harry thought as he walked to the car, opening the centre console. He grabbed it and walked back inside, seeing his father in the dining room, sitting at the table. He was nervous, sure, but he wanted answers. "Dad?" He knew that Sirius and Remus had stayed up late last night, so they would still be in bed for a while. He looked up from what he was doing- something involving writing, Harry wasn't sure.

"Yea?" When Harry didn't respond immediately, he cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"

"You don't lie to me, do you?"

"No, why would I?" Harry nodded, taking a deep breath. 

"Are you in a relationship with someone?" James' hand squeezed the pen he was using, which was the only sign that he actually heard what Harry asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Please answer the question."

"I'm not in a relationship with anyone. Harry, what's going on?" He pulled it out of his pocket and dropped it on the table in front of his father. "That's..."

"I know what a condom is, Dad. I'm not an idiot."

"Where did you get that?" Harry took another deep breath. 

"The other day when looking for the cord to my music player, I found it in the car." Harry could feel pressure behind his eyes and a sting in his nose. 

"Harry-"

"If you're in a relationship with someone, I wouldn't be upset. I don't think you're trying to replace mom or anything." James' eyes widened. "I just want to know. I just want the truth."

"Harry, I'm not in a relationship."

"Then why was it there?" James didn't respond. "Why can't you just tell me? If you're not in a relationship, why do you have it?" James looked around frantically.

"I was going to give it to you." He spat out quickly. James winced immediately. 

"When you know I can't touch people? Do you really think I'm that stupid?" James pinched the bridge of his nose, but Harry just turned, walking up the stairs. 

"Harry, wait!" He just kept walking, not listening. At the top of the stairs, Sirius was coming out of his room. 

"Hey kid, what's-" Harry didn't want to talk to him either. He just closed and locked the door, propping his chair against it for good measure.

* * *

At a knock on his door, Harry woke up. He had a slight headache and was a bit dizzy since he didn't get much sleep. They knocked again, so he stood, grumbling as he walked to the door. He moved the chair, unlocked the door, and opened it to reveal his father. "I'm awake." And he closed the door. He pulled his clothes on, noticing that they hadn't been cleaned. Usually, he would put them in a basket and someone would take them and wash them overnight so he would have them in the morning. Sighing, he sprayed a bit of cologne to cover any smells and fed Hedwig, walking downstairs. James stood when he walked into the room and Sirius sat straight next to Remus.

"Hey, Harry. We were thinking. About the dog-"

"I don't want it. Can someone take me to school?" Sirius scowled at James, standing. 

"I can-"

"Can Remus do it?" The man stiffened, not looking at anyone's face. Remus stood, pulling a jacket and shoes on. 

"I'll be back." The whole ride was spent in silence, Remus not even trying to talk. When he pulled up, Harry climbed out of the car and walked to the building without looking back. In breakfast, he walked through the line, realizing that he never ate it. Barely anyone was in the room when he walked in, so he could better pick a seat. He picked at the cardboard-like breakfast bar dreaming of warm toast and eggs and waffles. 

Someone plopped down next to him. "I never expected to see you here this early."

"Why are you here so early? Rich people breakfast isn't good enough for you?"

"I like to be here when no one else is." Harry looked over to see that Malfoy's hair was gelled back again. 

"Well, I decided to come early."

"Considering how hard you are to get up in the morning, that's hard to believe." Harry rolled his eyes and noticed someone walking over to the table. She had short black hair and her skirt was hiked up too far making Harry look away. 

"Draco, are you coming?" Draco was watching Harry though, because he started to fidget as he looked anywhere but who he knew to be named Pansy. "Draco?"

"I'm... keeping Harry company until one of his friends arrives." She scoffed, touching his arm. 

"Did he ask you to do that?"

"Do I look like I'll just do anything anyone asks me to?"

"I mean, with how much you've talked about-"

"Pansy!" Draco snapped, turning pink. "I will be there later." She walked away looking like a kicked puppy.

"Girlfriend troubles?" Harry asked. 

"She's not my girlfriend!" He yelled a bit too quickly. "She's more of a family friend that is at my house more often than her own." Harry nodded along, offering Draco a piece of the breakfast flavoured cardboard. He pulled off a piece, popping it into his mouth. "This stuff is atrocious." He grimaced and Harry chuckled. "You're trying to poison me."

"If I can eat it, so can you."

I'm pretty sure your stomach is made of steel."

"Why do you at that?"

"french fries on a chicken sandwich?" Harry shoved him lightly. 

"You said it was good."

"Had a weird aftertaste." Harry noticed a shadow and looked back to see Hermione and Ron standing there, jaws fallen. 

"What're you just standing there for. Sit down." They shared a look then sat, Hermione, eying Draco warily. When she sat, he stood, looking at her. Hermione looked at Harry for an explanation as he walked closer, but Harry had none. 

"Granger- er... Hermione." Her eyes widened, darting from Harry to Draco. "I'm sorry that I've been such a jerk for...

Nine years." Draco winced.

"Nine years."

"W-what brought this on?"

"It's come to my attention that I've been so rude and I want to be nicer. More mature," Harry didn't miss how Draco's eyes found him for just a moment before snapping back to Hermione so quickly he thought he may have imagined it. Hermione grew a look of understanding on her face and raked her hand through her hair. Harry was more than confused. 

"I... I can’t forgive you immediately. You could always just turn your back on this. If you keep to your word, I may, in time, learn to, but until then, go away." Draco looked almost hopeful as he walked away, but he couldn't see anywhere in that speech that someone would be given hope. Harry sighed, looking at Hermione, who was arranging herself.

"What was that all about?"

"He was asking for forgiveness. I answered him."

"But he looked..."

"Looked what, Harry?" He shook his head. He had other things to worry about other than Draco acting strangely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, a lot has been happening at home. There's going to be a slightly adult part towards the end. Also, lots of science stuff just because.

Science was, once again, his worst class. Harry figured that Snape was going to treat him like everyone else since Sirius had talked to him, but that only lasted a few days. Now, he was calling on Harry more than anyone else to answer questions. 

"Potter." He looked up and squinted his eyes to try and see. "What is the average lifespan of the Planarian flatworm." He looked at his notes, hating how messy his handwriting was. 

"They can live as long as three years."

"Did you know that, or did your partner write your notes for you."

"I knew that. I've only ever written my own notes."

"How long can it go outside of water?"

"As long as any other fish, I'd suppose. We never talked about it."

"How long is the average flatworm?"

"anywhere from three to fifteen millimetres. Why are you only asking me questions when there's a whole entire class of students."

"Are you questioning me?"

Obviously. It's not fair to treat me like this just because my godfather-"

"Out!" He yelled, making Harry jump. "Get out of my classroom." Harry didn’t hesitate to gather his things, stuffing them hastily into his bag and walking out the door. Harry sat on the floor, pulling out his game system and turning it down so he could play. He sat there for what seemed like the whole hour until the door was thrown open and he looked up to see Snape scowling at him. He handed the paper over. "You will have this done by tomorrow.

"Yea." He snatched it, stuffing it into his bag and going back to the game. It was snatched out of his hand. "Hey!"

"I request that your father come and get this if you want it back. In the meantime, we will be discussing your behaviour. Leave your pet godfather out of this." Harry stood, looking squarely at Snape. 

"He won't stand for that. If Sirius wants to come, he's going to come. He's part of my family, too." Snape scowled, but Harry wasn't backing down. "If you don't like it, maybe you shouldn't be an asshole to me. Then we wouldn't have this problem." He heard a gasp from his right but didn't look away. Snape had turned a violent shade of red. He slammed the door shut and Harry barely had time to grab his bag before he was being pulled down the stairs by his arm and taken to the office, where he was firmly placed in a chair. 

"You will wait here. Do not move." Snape demanded, going into the principle's office. There was a short, but rather loud conversation until Snape came back out and walked out the door. Harry winced as the door slammed. When he heard his name, he looked over to see Dumbledore motioning for him to come. 

"I want your side of the story."

"I was kicked out of his class now I'm here." Dumbledore seemed almost disappointed and such a thought made Harry's chest tighten. 

"Mr Snape wanted you to be expelled," Harry felt the blood leave his body, "But he's calmed down enough to just stand for suspension." Harry thought that it wasn't so much as he calmed down, but more of Dumbledore telling him that he wasn't going to expel a student for something so simple. "He would not settle for anything less than a week." Harry nodded, slumping into the chair. "Your father has been contacted, so he is on his way as we speak." It was a while before someone knocked on the door. 

"Mr Dumbledore?" Draco asked as he poked his head in. "Mr Snape told me to bring Harry his work for the next week." He handed Harry the stack of paper, so he put it in his bag. On top of the stack was a folded piece of paper with a number on it. His number Harry realized and stuffed it into his pocket. Draco walked out and closed the door leaving Harry with the principle. 

Another knock on the door signified that James was there. "Mr Potter. Mr Black. Come in. I've discussed with Harry the disciplinary action and he seems to have no complaints."

"What did he do?"

"Disrupted class and cursed at a teacher. To quote Mr Snape, he said, If you don't like it, maybe you shouldn't be an asshole to me to which Snape had brought him here." Harry jumped up to standing.

"That was taken way out of context." He couldn't look at his father, so he stuck with Sirius, who seemed to look fairly proud. "He was calling on me and only me. When I mentioned that there were other people in the room so he sent me out. In the hallway, I was playing my game and he took it saying that Dad had to get it. He insulted Sirius and said that he had to stay out of it Io i told him that if it involves me and Dad, it'll involve Sirius too, which is when I said that."

"Either way, you used profanity at a teacher." Harry fell back to the chair, it scraping noisily against the floor. "If you'll wait, I have someone to bring all of the work from the classes that you'll be missing." They all walked to the main office and sat in chairs, Sirius to one side and James on the other. 

The door opened and a boy with a red insignia walked in. "Harry?" He nodded, so the boy handed him two folders. "I'm Neville. I'm in your rotation. I'm gonna say, it was cool when you stood up to Snape like that." Harry smiled kindly. "Anyway, this is from math and history, and the other is life science and art." Harry slid the folders into his bag. 

"Thanks." He smiled again and walked away. When he was out, Harry's face fell again as his father picked up his backpack and the walked out of the building. Harry sat in the back of the car so Sirius and James could sit in front as James put the backpack in the back, then climbed into the driver seat. 

"I'm not going to ask why," He mentioned, looking in the rearview mirror. He hated when his father did that. "I know from experience that he's not easy to get along with."

"What did you do to him? Because whatever you did to make him hate you, he's projecting it onto me because I'm your son. I hope you enjoyed whatever they did to make him so angry because I'm the one dealing with the repercussions." He didn't even give his father time to answer as he shoved his headphones into his ears to block out everything. He watched the scenery change as he listened. 

When they pulled into the driveway, Harry climbed out and walked through the house and up to his room, closing the door behind him. The first thing he did was program Draco's number in his phone, then pulled out his work. 

He tried to start with science, but apparently, Snape decided to skip from Planarian Flatworms straight to human anatomy. He couldn't call and ask anyone because everyone was in school, so he had to just skip that for a later date. Math was much simpler, being as they were working on equations. He tackled that work for the week in less than two hours. 

Someone knocked on the door, but he ignored it in favour of pulling out his history work. They knocked three times with no response from him before opening the door. Sirius walked over. "What do you want for lunch?"

"To be left alone." Sirius gave a sigh walking over to the bed and sitting down. He picked up Harry's pillow, resting against it in his lap.

"What's wrong, Harry? It can't just be the suspension."

"I'm guessing Dad didn't tell you what I found in his car?"

"The condom? Harry, that was mine." Harry was having a hard time believing it. 

"Then why didn't he say that? He told me, after looking for an excuse, that he was going to give it to me of all people."

"Maybe he thought that you didn't need to know what I get up to." Harry looked at him sceptically. "Would I ever lie to you?"

"You told me once that corn was poisonous so I would throw a fit when mom tried to make me eat it." Sirius chuckled, looking away. 

"That's different."

"If it was yours, why was it in his car when you have a motorbike that you use." Sirius didn't respond. Harry stood walking down to the kitchen and grabbed a banana and a bunch of grapes and walked back to his room, shutting and locking the door. Checking the time, he noted that it was 11:27, so he picked up his phone, dialling as he sorted through his work. When it picked up on the other end, it was too loud. 

" _ Hello? _ " Draco asked.

"It's Harry. Can you take the phone to Hermione?"

" _ Why?" _

"I need her help and she doesn't have a cell phone."

" _ I could help you. _ "

"You guys aren't on this subject until further into the week. She reads more than I've ever seen anyone read aside from Remus." The sound on the other end moved and there was a conversation that was mostly drowned out by the noise before he heard her voice. 

" _ Harry? _ "

"I need your help. It's about the human anatomy."

" _ Okay. I will if I can. _ "

"I don't have a science book, so I'm pretty sure he's setting me up to fail. How many bones are in the average human body?"

" _ At birth, there are 270 and a full grown adult will have 206. _ "

"Why?" He asked, writing down her answer as best he could.

" _ Some of the bones seal together as the person grows so they make a whole bone instead of fragments." _

"Okay, what are the five most vital organs?"

" _ Brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and liver. _ "

"Last question, then you can go back to lunch."

" _ Okay _ ."

"What are the sections and functions of each section of the brain?"

" _ Let me check the book. _ " He could hear her pulling something out and flipping through pages. " _ Okay, It says here: There are the forebrain, the midbrain and the hindbrain. _ "

"There are more spaces than that."

" _ Okay. How many _ ?" He counted all of the empty spaces.

"Thirteen in total."

" _ Okay, there's the lobes, which are Occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal. Then there's the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, Hypothalamus, and thalamus. Then the Pituitary gland, the pineal gland, the Amygdala, the Hippocampus, and the midbrain. _ " When he was done writing them down. he looked at his watch. She still had time.

"I can guess that the occipital object deals with vision?"

" _ It helps us recognize objects as we look at them, so yes _ ."

"Temporal lobe?"

" _ Deals with hearing and memory and language. It also affects emotions and learning. The parietal lobe deals with the senses like touch and taste and pain. The frontal lobe effects reasoning, emotions and movement. _ "

"Wow, okay." He wrote what he could, but she was talking very fast. "Next, the cerebral cortex?"

" _ Thinking, voluntary movement, reasoning and perception. The cerebellum controls balance, coordination, movement and posture. The Hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, appetite, digestion and sleep. Thalamus controls your sensory and  motor integration. _ " She took a breath. " _ Pituitary gland controls your hormones and turns food into energy. The pineal gland controls growth and maturing." _

"Slow down for just a minute." He wrote as fast as he could, messing up but only scratching it out instead of erasing it. "Okay, the Amygdala, hippocampus, and midbrain."

" _ Feeling happy or sad, deals with memories and learning, and it controls breathing and reflexes _ ."

"You're an angel, Hermione."

" _ Yea, yea. I love you too. I'm gonna go _ ." He pulled the phone away as it went silent and hung up. He finished with what he was doing and stood, stretching his muscles. Harry walked to Hedwig's cage, cleaning it, and petting down Hedwig's feathers causing her to bristle in her sleep. Putting on music to fill the sound, he laid on his bed, turning away from the room. His phone vibrated in his hand, so he opened it, seeing a message.  _ cn u txt _ Draco had texted him.

Harry cringed away.  _ Not if you type like that _ he sent back, laying his phone down.he closed his eyes for a moment, feeling how heavy they were. That's what he gets for looking at the same paper for hours at a time. He shifted so he was on his back, staring at the ceiling. He had a feeling that he would spend a significant amount of time looking at this spot in the ceiling.

_ He watched as Draco moved up his body, his tongue making wet paths as he went. Up against his leg, to his thigh, up his hip and up his chest. He had slotted himself between Harry's thighs and was pressing into his hip with a devious smile. "You taste like candy." _

Harry woke up quickly, standing straight up. His legs wobbled collapsed under him and he ended on his knees. Wiping his hands down his face, his mind trailed back to the dream. The thought of it made Harry's body tingle in ways that it never had before and he knew exactly why. "Oh, my god."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I've been without a computer for a few days and just got it back.

Trying his best to push the incident out of his mind, he began to text Draco more often. When school was over, he got a call. "Hermione?"

_ "What did you say to Draco? He's completely different. _ "

"I didn't say anything. What do you mean completely different?"

" _ He asked if I needed anything in art. When we hung up, he stuck around asking what you needed _ ."

"He was just curious?"

" _ Draco Malfoy doesn't do things to be curious. He does things to be mean or get what he wants. I've known him since first grade." _

"Maybe he changed?"

" _ People like him don't just change, Harry, _ " He shrugged despite knowing that she couldn't see. There was a conversation on the other end of the call and Hermione sighed. " _ Mom needs the phone. I'll call when I'm able. _ " He hung up the phone as he felt his stomach growl. Maybe a bit of fruit wasn't the best thing to eat for lunch, so he opened his door. Walking down the stairs, he heard a knock on the door. Harry looked out the window. James' car was still there, but there were no other cars, so he wasn't sure who it was. 

He walked over to the door and opened it. On the other side of the screen door was a man who looked strikingly like Sirius, but with short hair. He was wearing a suit and was shifting from foot to foot as he waited. He was crumpling a piece of paper in his hand. "Can I help you?" The man jumped, apparently not noticing that Harry had opened the door. 

He looked at Harry, then at the number by the door that told people their address. He looked at his paper, then at Harry again. "Is... is a man named Sirius Black here?" Harry felt his eyebrows raise. 

"Gimme a second." He closed the door, making sure to lock it so the man wouldn't try to get in, then ran up the stairs. Harry knocked on the door to Sirius and Remus' room. After a shifting from the inside, the door opened and Sirius poked his head out. 

"Harry? Are you okay?"

"There's a man at the door for you."

"For me?" His brows knitted together. "Are you sure?"

"He asked for you specifically." He thought for a moment. 

"What did he look like?"

"Kind of uptight. He has a suit on. Short black hair, silvery eyes like you have." Sirius was looking suspiciously at the ground like he could see through the floor to see the man. "He looked a bit like you, but more uptight and less cool." Sirius scowled. 

"He didn't say a name?"

"Your name." Sirius sighed. 

"Give me a minute." 

"Do you want me to invite him in?"

"No!" Sirius snapped and Harry backed up. "Sorry. No, I'll deal with it. Just tell him I'm coming." Harry nodded and the door closed so he walked back down, unlocking and opening the door. 

"He's on his way." the man reached for the handle of the screen door, but Harry grabbed it first, locking it. "Sirius said not to let you in." The man let out a tense kind of laughter looking up before he moved back, leaning on the guardrail. "You might not want to do that."

"Why? Did Sirius say not to do that as well?"

"No, that one is loose and we still have yet to fix it." The metal creaked and he rushed to get up, moving away from it. He heard someone coming down the stairs so he backed away from the door to give Sirius room. The man looked him up and down, looking dubious. 

"How did you find me and what are you doing here?"

"I found you through your friend Mckinnon and I have to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk. Go away."

"Believe me, Sirius, I wouldn't be here unless I had literally nowhere else to go."

"What about your precious mother?"

"This is about her." Sirius scoffed. 

"I don't want to hear about her unless it's for her to get on her knees and beg for forgiveness."

"Sirius-"

"Even then I wouldn't want to hear it."

Sirius-"

"I specifically moved away to get away from all of that-"

"She's dead, Sirius." He interrupted, causing Sirius to reel back. "She had a heart attack." Sirius scowled. 

"Serves her right, that old bag of hate and-" He cut himself off looking at Harry. He took a deep breath and sighed. "So why are you here?"

"When you left, since you were in the will, she burned it."

"She always had a taste for dramatics."

"She never made a new one. the property, all of the family money, everything we had was all forfeit. Everything is gone, Sirius." He closed his eyes, rubbing his temple. 

"And?" 

"I was using my portion of the money to pay for a place to stay." Sirius groaned in his throat. 

"So you decided to come to me?"

"That or live in destitute until I can find a job and earn enough money to-"

"Fine, fine. Jesus. Come in." He unlocked the door and the man walked in. He looked all around, noticing the things on the walls- from old posters to pictures of the family, to a weird plastic fish that at one point used to sing, which even though it doesn’t work, James still keeps it for some reason. There was also a drawing that someone made out of fancy lettering saying, Potter. Harry didn't know where it came from, but it was just as normal to him as the non-singing fish. He also looked at the table where a glass duck was sitting with various pencils and erasers were, then to the cement skull that Sirius found a few years ago and brought home so they can use it as a door stopper. Sirius turned around to see the man observing the surroundings. "Say anything about anything in this house and you will be seeing the other side of the front door fast than you can finish a sentence." The man put his hands up in surrender and followed Sirius to the dining room. 

sirius sat down and the man sat across from him. Harry sat next to his godfather looking at the man. "So, who's this?" He said pointing at Harry.

"James' son." The man looked confused for a moment.

"But I thought-"

"Harry." Sirius interrupted again. "This is Regulus. He's my brother. Regulus, this is Harry. My godson." Sirius looked at his brother with a challenging look. Regulus seemed to understand what was going on and nodded, putting his hands in his lap. "Anyway, I can't make any decisions for the household." Regulus tensed.

"Why not?"

"Not only am I not the master of the house, we all make the decisions in this home, not just one person." Regulus scowled and looked at the table. "Wait here. I'll go get James and Remus." And Sirius left, walking up the stairs. It was awkward for Harry to sit there in silence in the presence of Sirius' brother that he had no idea existed. 

He cleared his throat. "So... Harry, huh?"

"Yep."

"I heard about you when you were born. Sirius and James were telling everyone. News got to me, eventually."

"How come we've never met before?" Regulus looked away.

"Sirius and I have had... creative differences."

"Like what?"

"His mother was a bitch, so I left," Sirius said as he walked back into the room. "I suggested that he come with me, but he refused."

"What was she like that about?" Sirius looked at him as Regulus ducked his head further. To Harry, it looked like he was regretting something.

"James." Harry grimaced, knowing what he was talking about. "We shared a few choice words before I left, including me calling her a racist bitch and when he didn't join me, I called him a few things that James would be ashamed for me to repeat to his son."

"I suppose I deserve it."

"Oh, I'm not even halfway done. But James and Remus are here to talk about this." They all walked in, James sitting to Harry's other side as Sirius took his place back. Remus sat next to Sirius, taking his hand. Sirius lifted the hands and placed them on the table right in the line of Regulus' sight. 

"So what did you want?" James asked, looking at the man across the table. 

"I need a place to stay. I wouldn't be here if not for that."

"You can all the way across the country just to find a place to live?"

"I have absolutely nothing. I used what little money I had to get a ride here." Harry watched him, looking at his face. He wouldn't look at any of them, but it didn't look like it was disgust on his face like Petunia and Vernon had. 

"Did you share the same opinions?" Harry asked, causing the man to look up. 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I understand if you wanted to stay because she's your mother, but were you like her? Did you hate Dad just because he isn't white?" Regulus looked up at James, then turned his eyes quickly. 

"No. I never had any problems with him."

"So if you lived here, you wouldn't say anything about what we do or how we talk or anything?"

"No."

"I don't see why he can't stay here. We have a spare room. He's not going to be mean. He had nowhere else to go." Remus and Sirius shared a look before Sirius looked at James. Sirius raked his fingers through his hair before he tied it up. Sirius always did that when he was most stressed. Not to say that the only time he ever put his hair up was when he was stressed. He also did it when he was too hot or it was in his face.

"We're going to lay out some ground rules before we decide this. if you don't agree with any of them, you know where the door is." James started. Regulus nodded. "first, on school days, we don't get loud after ten. Harry needs sleep for school and we already have enough trouble getting him up in the mornings."

"That's fair."

"Second. If necessary, you might have to drive Harry to school. He knows where it is and where to go. He always has a ride and you just add another point to that fact." Regulus nodded again. "Third, you have to help with house responsibilities. If that means you cook one day a week, so be it."

He looked up, mumbling something. Harry thought that he was talking under his breath and thought that Sirius would not like it because he hates it when Harry does it, but he didn't respond. When Harry looked at his godfather, his eyes were trained on his brother, disdain in his eyes. Harry had never seen Sirius looking like that at anyone.

"Anything else?" They all looked at Sirius. 

"Don't bring anyone into this house unless we all know. We're not having a repeat of that." Regulus looked like he wanted to ask what had happened, but stayed silent, choosing to nod instead. "And you'll not say anything about Harry. No matter what." Harry sat straight, looking at his godfather. He stood, walking to the stairway. "If we think of anything else, we'll let you know." And he all but stomped up the stairs. 

Harry cleared his throat. "I have a week's worth of homework to do. I'll be in my room."

* * *

 

Harry was as bored as one could be when they were locked in their room. he wasn't necessarily locked, he just chose to stay away from his family plus one. this is how he ended up on a handstand on his bedroom floor. his arms were aching, but he was seeing how long he could go for. He'd already fallen three times and had to try again, his record being three and a half minutes. 

When he found himself leaning back, he started to kick in the opposite direction, but it wasn't working. "No, no, no, no!" He groaned as he fell back, feeling the impact directly on his back, knocking the wind out of himself. Rolling onto his back, he heard his phone chirping. "Yea." He said, standing up and walking to it.  _ Are you in trouble? _ Draco asked. He hadn't gotten a message from him all day. He thought that Draco was upset and wouldn't talk to him again, but he wasn't going to stretch his luck. 

_ I think they're actually proud of me _ . He responded, dropping his phone on the bed. He took a moment to move his body, then massaged his sides. He couldn't actually reach his back to rub that, so it would just have to do. He picked up his phone again. 

_ For cursing at a teacher? _ He chuckled for a moment.

_ For cursing at Snape _ . He stuffed his phone into his pocket so he can feel it and started on another handstand. It didn't last nearly as long, Harry falling forward this time so he could catch himself. He decided he would just stop doing that and chose to try and do a backbend. That was significantly easier but still caused him to fall more than once. 

He giggled when he felt his phone vibrate, causing him to fall to the ground. He pulled it out, he noticed another message.  _ I wish my parents were like that _ .

_ Well, I guess they knew him from childhood. Dad says he was always like that _ . Harry stood, plugging his music player into the radio, listening music. He sang along, purposely yelling the lyrics badly. 

" _ If you want to hang out, you've gotta take her out, cocaine. If you want to get down, get down on the ground, cocaine. She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie, Cocaine. _ "

There was a knock on the door, so he walked over and opened it. Sirius was there looking irritated with Regulus behind him. "Do you want food?"

"What's there to eat?"

"Remus made lasagna." Harry snorted. "And there's also some cake left, so we were all gonna eat some after."

"I'd think that there was cake left. It was three layers." He followed Sirius, Regulus coming up behind them. When he sat down, his phone vibrated again.  _ I would hate it. _

_ Well, at least he is just our teacher. Eating. Talk later. _ He ate as soon as he was served, humming at the taste. "Wonderful as always, Chef Lupin," Harry mentioned causing Remus to chuckle. Sirius took a bite.

"Is that a bit of super amazingness I detect? Excellent choice."

Harry shifted the food around, taking a bit of the meat. "Mmm. Is that love that you made this with? You're just an expert, aren't you?" It was James' turn to take a bite.

"Do I taste the faintest bit of we don't deserve food this good? I think I do." Harry looked at his father, who was asking for forgiveness with his eyes. Harry just smiled and continued to eat. It was at that moment when he remembered that there was a whole other person at the table. Harry smiled sheepishly at Regulus before digging into his food. Regulus decided that that was the right time to eat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song used was "Cocaine" covered by Eric Clapton. Let me know how the chapter was


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so, so much for all of the love that you guys are giving me. it helps with the anxiety of being a writer and it's overall amazing to read.

The time was around ten when Harry woke up, walking downstairs. he reached into the fridge pulling out a plum. "Who went shopping?" He mumbled to himself.

"Your father did earlier." Harry jumped and turned around breathing heavy as he looked for the source. Regulus was standing in the middle of the kitchen, looking at Harry in a slightly concerned kind of way. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Harry closed the fridge sitting down to catch his breath. 

"I was suspended."

"For what, if I may ask?"

"I..." He looked away. "I cussed at a teacher when he insulted my godfather- or... your brother." He tilted his head, looking at Harry. He walked over and offered a hand to help Harry up. He wished people would stop doing that, it made him feel rude. "Oh, I don't touch people." 

"Ah." He squeezed his hand into a fist, lowering it to his side. Harry pulled himself up. 

"So where's Sirius and Dad?"

"James is away and Sirius mentioned something about the basement." He wondered if Regulus felt as strange being in this situation as Harry did. 

"The basement?"

"The garage." Harry grinned widely and ran to the door, running down the stairs. He passed Remus in the library, heading straight for the garage. Sirius was under his motorbike, fiddling with something before he came back out. 

"Are you taking your bike out?" Sirius looked up and smiled. "Can I have a ride?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"As long as you wear a shirt, I won't touch your skin." Sirius snorted. 

"Of course I'll wear a shirt."

"Then It's a great idea." His godfather threw his head back as he laughed.

"Go get a jacket." Harry grinned again, running up the stairs. He ran to his closet, pulling out his jacket and scarf, running back downstairs and passing Regulus.

"When dad get's back tell him I went riding with Sirius." He yelled as he passed, running down the stairs. The garage door was already open by the time he made it back down and Harry took the time to put his jacket and scarf on while Sirius started the bike. He helped Harry climb on the back and Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius. 

"Be careful. James would murder you if you brought home a pancake of a son." They both looked back to see Remus standing against the wall. 

"C'mon. I'm always careful." When he drove, Harry had to grab on tightly as he screamed with joy. The wind whipped through his hair and against his face as he watched the scenery changing. Harry wrapped his legs around Sirius, raising his arms in the air to be hit by the wind and laughed out the most joyous sound that he'd ever bellowed. He thought he could feel Sirius laughing but it may have been the vibrations that the bike was making. He began to weave through the street, Harry hollering with joy.

When Sirius hit the brake a bit too hard, Harry's body slammed forward into Sirius' back. Pain exploded through his nose and he was having a hard time to breath right through it, but he didn't care. He sat up and corrected himself to look to see why Sirius had stopped. 

"What happened?" He noticed that a car had pulled out in front of them and the woman in front was getting out of the car. She had deep red hair that reminded HHarry of his mother. Sirius didn't seem to care about the woman or the car, he had just looked at Harry. "What?"

"Your nose." When Harry reached up to touch it, he felt pain bloom through his face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sirius." But he wasn't. It was bleeding again and he couldn't breathe properly through his nose. 

"Oh, god. Your father is going to kill me."

"It's really fine."

"Harry-"

"Are you two okay? Oh, I'm sorry." the woman walked up to them. She made a sound when she saw his face. 

"It's probably not broken." Harry tried, not quite believing himself. He just didn't want Sirius to panic.

"Harry, I've been punched in the face before. I know what a broken nose is." 

"C'mon, Sirius. I'm fine. Just... put it back into place and let's go. 

"I'm not going to do that. It'll hurt like hell. Plus if I touch you, you'll be sick along with being in pain."

"You have gloves, don't you?"

"Oh, my god. Harry, we're going to the hospital."

"I could drive him." The lady offered. Sirius tensed as he looked up at her. "I mean, I'm the reason that he's like that. It's much safer than the bike I'm sure. You could just follow behind." Sirius was tense. 

"I'll be fine, Sirius."

* * *

James had walked into the house carrying the take away that he went out for and almost immediately, he knew something was different. Walking into the kitchen, Sirius' brother was sitting at the table drinking something. James could bet it was tea or hot chocolate, but wouldn't put it past Regulus if it was alcohol. He listened to the house that was eerily silent. Usually, he could hear Harry shifting around upstairs or if he were loud enough, Harry talking to his friends or even sometimes to himself.

Regulus put his cup down, clearing his throat. "Your... son is with Sirius."

"Why?" 

"Motorbike?" James nodded, setting up food for when Harry came back. He walked down to the library where Remus was curled up in the chair, a book on his lap. He was reading so intently that he didn't even hear James walking in. 

"Remus?" The man jumped, nearly tossing the book as he scrambled to sit up. James felt laughter in his throat but bit his cheek so not to embarrass the man. "I brought Chinese."

"Harry's with Sirius."

"I heard. Just save him some spring rolls, rice, and chicken." Back upstairs, Regulus was looking at the bag with interest. "You can get some. I bought it for everyone."

"What is it?"

"Takeaway. I just went to..." He looked at Regulus, who seemed to have no idea what was going on. His mind instantly trailed off to the first time he bought takeaway for Sirius, who acted like it was Christmas. "You've probably never had it before." He sighed as he pulled out five plates, then opened the bag, pulling out everything. 

"I am sorry for the inconvenience."

"No, It's okay. It was the same with Sirius." James began to open all of the packages, "I just figured that since you were older, you'd try it, but since you lived with your mother, who literally told me that I should go back to where I came from among a few other choice words that I care not to repeat-" He accidentally ripped open the box sending wontons all over the kitchen. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself when he heard someone laughing. 

Regulus was covering his mouth, trying to stop his laughter, obviously not doing a good job. James felt himself laughing as well before he even realized that he was. 

"New decorations?" Remus asked as he walked up, looking at the mess. James laughed just a bit harder before he calmed down and managed to start cleaning up. Regulus stood and helped, but the phone rang, so Remus walked to it. When the was finally clean, James stood, looking down at the defiled food. 

"Well, that's one less thing we get to eat."

"James." He looked up to see Remus holding the phone, looking concerned. "The phone for you. It's the hospital." James tensed as the happy mood bled away. He walked to it, taking the phone from Remus.

"Hello?"

"James Potter?" a woman on the other end asked.

"That's me."

"I'm Doctor Abigail Wailin. I am calling because someone brought your son Harry Potter in." 

"Is he okay?"

"Yes. He came in with a broken nose. He's in the waiting room. We're going to set it and give him a splint, but I figured that I should inform you that your son is here."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"What should I do?"

"Fix it, if you please. I'll deal with him and his godfather when they get home." When the phone was hung up, he looked at Remus, who still looked concerned. "Sirius and Harry are at the hospital." Remus tensed. "Harry has a broken nose."

"How?"

They didn't say." 

"James-"

"I'm going to murder him."

"James, that isn't going to help anything. We don't know what happened." Regulus was behind him, listening.

"You did know that Sirius is a child in a man's body, right?" James snapped around to look at the other man. 

"He's been taking Harry on rides all his life. This has never happened before." James took a shaking breath, looking at Remus, whose face was uncharacteristically tight. "What do we do?"

"Wait until Sirius gets home. We'll deal with it from there."

* * *

When Harry managed to get back home with Sirius, they walked through the basement to try and sneak. It was dark outside by that time. Sirius said that he would find an excuse tomorrow for Harry to have the splint on his face and the black eye. The house was strangely quiet as they walked through. That is until they were almost to the stairs up to Harry's room when the living room light turned on. 

"Hey, Sirius," Remus asked in a way that told Harry that Sirius was in trouble. "Where have you been?" Not even looking at his partner-some of Harry's blood was on the front of his shirt- Sirius cleared his throat.

"Out. Riding around."

"Sirius," James asked this time. "What happened to Harry's face?"

"Would you believe we were attacked by a bear?"

"So why is it only him that's hurt?"

"He jumped in front of the bear?" Sirius offered weakly. 

"Harry. Turn to me." Harry winced, which hurt a bit, but he was also on painkillers so it didn't matter that much. He turned to his father. Remus and he were sitting on the couch and Regulus was in the recliner. "Hey, Sirius. Did you think that taking my son to the hospital, they wouldn't call me?"

"I was kind of hoping." He murmured under his breath. "I guess this would be the time to tell you that Harry was taken to the hospital."

"How did it happen?" 

"Well, we were riding and being safe members of society following all of the road laws and being good people," Harry looked up at Sirius, "And I had to hit the breaks because a car drove out in front of us. It was either have his nose broken or all of him if the bike crashed."

"Why was he not wearing a helmet?" 

"Hm?" Harry found that this was the best time to slip out. 

"I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed." He walked to the stairs, retreating to his room. He listened carefully, but there didn't seem to be any yelling yet, so he figured they were just having a normal conversation. After checking the time, he picked up his phone. " _ Hello? _ "

"Is Hermione there?"

" _ Just a moment, Harry. _ " The phone was switched over.

"Hermione?"

" _ Harry? You sound different. Are you okay? _ "

"My nose is broken." She pulled in a gasp. 

" _ What happened?" _ He took the time to explain the story. " _ Oh, god. I hope he's not in too much trouble." _

"There was no yelling or breaking things, so I think he's fine."

" _ You never know, Harry. Maybe they aren't arguing loudly to stop you from hearing. _ "

"I've been with them all my life. They're very loud people. Plus I don't think they'd actually start fighting because Regulus is here."

" _ Regulus? _ "

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. Sirius has a brother and he's living with us now. Apparently, Sirius' mom died so he was left with nothing and scoped us out."

" _ I'm sorry. _ "

"Sirius wasn't too bent up about it. Apparently, Sirius wanted him to leave his mom, too but he stayed. His mom was super racist from what I hear, so it's good that Sirius left."

_ "Oh. _ "

"Yea. He walks around like he doesn't know what to do with himself, but I don't really blame him.

" _ Right. _ " They talked for another moment before Hermione wanted to get off.  _ "I'll see you Monday." _ He tossed his phone on the bed and made his way to the bathroom. It was bulky on his nose, stuck on with tape. Under his eye was a bit darker than the rest of his skin. It wasn't that big last time he saw it. 

Someone knocked on his door. "Come in." He called through the room. It opened revealing Sirius, and James walked in behind him. "What's up?"

James made a sound in his throat. "You've got a black eye." Harry met his father's eyes, grinning. 

"And a broken nose. I think it looks cool." James let out a breathy chuckle and smiled.

"You're definitely around Sirius too much." Harry chuckled and looked back into the mirror.

"Kind of looks like I was punched, doesn't it? That's pretty awesome."

"Except that anyone who knows you knows that you wouldn't have been," Sirius explained, pulling Harry's chair over to sit down. He was sitting backwards on the chair and James sat on the part that was left, his shoulder pressed against Sirius. When he laid his head on Sirius' shoulder, Harry raised an eyebrow at his father. 

"So you forgive him?"

"Not nearly, but we've come to a temporary truce."

Harry shrugged. "It's better than nothing. It really was an accident."

"So I've heard." James scowled at his friend. Sirius just kept looking at Harry, grinning.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be taking longer between uploads for a little while because of things at home, so please be patient with me.

"There is such thing as Hormone replacement therapy. Why not use that?" Harry looked up at Dr Pomfrey. It seemed, to him, like her favourite thing to talk about was him being trans. 

"Dad said it was best to do after I graduate. That way I don't have to have to explain anything to anybody." She nodded, looking at him with gentle eyes. 

"That is understandable." Harry nodded, feeling tense. "Is there a problem?"

"You're going to make me talk about my mom, aren't you?"

"It's a way to heal. The accident is the base reason behind why you have problems with skin contact."

"Might as well start now." He sighed. He was dreading this since he had woken up this morning. 

"First, tell me what she looked like." Harry took a deep breath. He'd known what she looks like. He looks at her picture every morning. It became so much of a habit that he doesn't even realize he does it anymore.

"I have her hair, except, hers was wavy and relaxed rather than all crazy like mine is. I get that from my dad." She nodded to prove she was listening, so he went on. "I have her eyes as well. Everyone who knew her always said that I have her eyes. It got a bit tiring after awhile. especially after the funeral. Dad started telling people that he'd punch them if they mentioned it." 

"Do you think you have her eyes?"

"Since my dad has brown eyes, I think I do." 

"What else can you tell me about her?"

"She was fair skinned." Harry gave a light chuckle. "At a parent-teacher conference, she came because Dad's mom was sick so he went to be with her. It was kindergarten, so we were waiting until the parents arrived at the school. When I walked up to my mom and took her hand, the teacher tried to usher me away so I wasn't bothering 'the nice lady'. Then mom threw a fit about the teacher not letting her be with me and there was a whole argument and she was debating pulling me out of school if they were going to be so rude."

"But she didn't?"

"The principle calmed her down enough to accept a heartfelt apology. Still, it was never the same after that. She always disliked that teacher. One good thing came out of it, though."

"What was that?"

"None of the other teachers in the entire school confused me for not being her child." Dr Pomfrey gave a laugh that warmed Harry's chest. 

"Do you often remember your mother in such a fond way?"

"Most of the time. She was never particularly mean or anything. I remember once, I went with one of my friends to the park and since his mom let him go, I figured it was the same way for mine. Well, little did I know that he lived two houses from the park while I lived almost three blocks." He felt a fond smile cross his face. "She threw a fit when I had disappeared, tearing through the town. Dad wanted to call the police but I think she threatened him. I only heard part of that when he was telling Sirius."

"How long have you  known Sirius?"

"All my life. All of my first memories involve him and my dad and mom. Him teaching me to ride a bike, dad teaching me to read, mom teaching me how to braid hair. Sirius taught me dirty words while mom tried to prevent me from using them. Dad and Sirius helped me with school projects."

"You must be very fond of him." 

"I am now, and I was for a while."

"What happened in between?"

"When I was about six years old, I was told that Sirius was in a special place and we wouldn't see him for a while. I don't remember much of it now. I only know what Dad told me."

"Where was he?"

"Prison. I learned from one of the teacher talking to another. They kept looking at me as they talked about him. I hated him for a really long time because I kept hearing that he was a bad person."

"Was this before or after the incident with your aunt?"

"Before. That whole thing happened when I was eleven."

"Alright, continue."

"Well, he got out when I was eleven. Dad, I guess, always knew that he was innocent and they made up right away. It took him telling dad to get his head out of his ass about who I wanted to be before I started to forgive him. From then on, we've had a fairly solid relationship."

"Fairly?"

"Well, when Remus came into the picture, I felt like I was pushed to the side for him. If Remus ever came around, Sirius would spend all his time with him."

"Was it strange to you that Sirius was seeing another man?"

"No. I'd seen a boyfriend or two before and Dad explained that he liked guys like dad liked mom. I figured it was normal."

"So, tell me about Remus."

"He apparently met Remus at a shop. Like, as he explained it, it was a bookshop, but they also sold records and collectables and toys and coffee." She chuckled a bit. " Sirius was buying music and he had his hands full and knocked into Remus. Mom told me it was a love story." He felt his face smile at the fond memories. 

"She never had any problems?"

"No one did."

"Alright, continue."

"Well, I like Remus," Harry admitted. "He was really easy on the whole gender issue. He never questioned it or treated me badly. He's like, completely opposite of Sirius, though."

"How so?"

"He wears sweaters and folds his socks and doesn't have any tattoos."

"Folds his socks?"

"Yea. He matches them, then folds them in half twice. I've watched him do it. Anyway, he is completely different from Sirius, but they seem happy, so I won't complain." She nodded. 

"So, back to your mother." He took a deep, calming breath.

"Yea?"

"We're not going to delve too deep into the topic today. Perhaps next week we will talk more. For now, I just want to ask. Do you ever dream of her?"

Harry thought for a moment. "In the car, I fell asleep." She raised her eyebrows at him. "The music that was playing made its way into it and I dreamed about the..." His throat constricted with tears. 

"Is that the only time it happened?"

"Yes."

"What are your other dreams like?"

"I don't remember. Or I just don't have them." She nodded, looking at her watch. "Will I ever be able to touch people again?"

"If you can work with me through this I believe you will be able to. There is no set time. It would be within a couple months, or it could take years. It could start little and you have to work your way up, or it could be all at once." Harry nodded again. "It could even start with people you know or even strangers." 

* * *

Harry was silent as they drove home, sticking to looking out the window. "You okay?"

"Yea. She wants to talk about the accident next week." James went silent at that, focusing on the road. "She said it could help me get past it."

"That's great," he said, trying not to sound too excited. They made their way home and Harry walked into his room. He could hear James talking to Sirius, who over the night seemed to have fallen back into James' good graces. Harry laid down on his bed. He spent a long time watching the ceiling before his stomach began to rumble. With a groan, he pulled himself up and began his walk to the kitchen. 

His father had apparently bought significantly American food. There weren't even any leftovers. With a resigned sigh, Harry pulled out the necessary parts to make a sandwich. Someone walked into the kitchen. His footsteps were softer, almost like he was being cautious. He turned around to see Regulus walking in. Harry took a bite, looking at the man. "You know I won't bite, right?" Harry asked when he made no move to walk closer. "That would require me to touch you, which makes me sick." When Regulus paled significantly, Harry realized how that could have been taken. "I mean, when people touch my skin, I get sick. Like, gagging all over the place, sometimes actually blowing chunks, almost always crying, it's not a good sight." The air was tense and awkward. "Anyway, how are you?"

"I'm... fine..." Harry winced at the poor man. "If you don't mind my asking, because if you don't wish to answer, you don't have to because you're free to answer or not answer if you so wish-" Harry cleared his throat, "Where did you and your father go?"

"I have therapy on Wednesdays."

"You do?" He looked down. "You do. Well..." Harry almost felt bad. He was trying so hard like he wished he could get to know his housemates better.

"I've been going since I was fourteen."

"You..." 

"When my mom died." He tensed and looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than here. "If you want something to eat, you're free to get it. I'm going back to my room." He stayed in the room until it became too dark not to need a light. No, that he actually turned the light on, choosing instead to sit in the dark for a while. When he could not see his hand in front of him, Harry walked downstairs. While in the kitchen, he looked up at a light on in the living room which wasn't the ceiling light. It was in blue and white shades instead of a dull yellow. Curiosity getting the best of him, he walked into the living room to see for the first time in a long time, the TV was on. 

James was sitting on the couch with his legs to his chest as he watched; Harry could tell that his face was wet even from the distance between them. He looked at the video as well, wondering what could have driven his father to tears so easily, but quickly understood. On the screen was an old video of Lily. She was in the hospital and it was obvious that she was exhausted as she was holding a baby. 

" _ You did amazing. _ " The person behind the camera mentioned, amazed.

" _ Shove off, James. _ " Lily snapped, with no real venom in her voice, " _ Fifteen hours of labour, this kid better appreciate me. _ " The older James on the couch let out a dry chuckle. 

"You're going to be a great mother," TV James mentioned. There was a loud noise and the camera dropped for a moment, the video fizzling out until it was righted again and moved to the door where Sirius walked in. 

" _ Where's my godkid _ ?" He asked as he strutted in. When he looked at the baby in Lily's arms, his eyes became very misty as he looked at his friends. " _ She's so... squashy. Are baby's supposed to be that small? Like, she's the size of a football." _

" _ If you're making those comparisons _ ," Lily mentioned from the hospital bed, " _ I'm not sure my football sized infant will be safe in your hands." _ Sirius looked at her, almost looking scandalized. 

" _ You think I'm going to take this small, soft creature and try to play catch? Maybe do a victory dance where I throw her up in the air? _ " Lily chuckled. 

" _ Don't be a toerag, Sirius. _ " He chuckled but didn't respond.

The video fizzed out and changed, putting everyone in the living room of Harry's childhood home. It seemed to be a few years later because Harry was sitting in James' lap with a book in his hands, Harry looking to be about four years old. " _ Jamie. Look what I found. _ " Lily mentioned from behind the camera. He looked up for a moment. He laughed. 

" _ I haven't seen that in forever. _ "

" _ Since I gave birth to the little troublemaker. _ " At this, the smaller Harry looked up and stuck his tongue out at the camera. " _ Oh, you know I'm joking. _ " James on the couch choked down what sounded like a sob. 

" _ Back to reading. _ " Video James mentioned, pulling the book back to the front of everyone's attention. James read in a soft, calm voice. That went on for a long time until the video cut out again. Harry was a bit older, possibly five or six. 

Sirius was with him, and the video looked like it was from the porch. Sirius was teaching Harry to ride a bike. It lasted for a while, Harry kept falling, until once, when Harry managed it, so Sirius, with significantly fewer tattoos than he had now, stood, threw his hands up, and jumped up, yelling out with the victory. Until the video Harry couldn't figure out how to stop and crashed right into the building, which caused Sirius to run over, helping him. Carrying Harry, they made their way to the porch where Harry's mom and dad were waiting. 

" _ Mayday! _ " Sirius mentioned as he carried Harry closer. " _ We crashed and there's blood everywhere _ ." There was a cut down his leg, sure, but the younger version of him wasn't even crying, it was just Sirius panicking. The video kept filming until the cut on his leg was patched up, Harry put his hands on Sirius' face to calm him down.

By this time, James on the couch had buried his face in his knees and Harry didn't know how to comfort him. Wishing nothing more than for Sirius to be here to help him where Harry couldn't, Harry walked around and made his way upstairs. 


	14. Chapter 14

The remainder of the week passed relatively calm, James having no signs of ever crying or watching the video the next day. On Friday, Ron and Hermione came back over so they could spend the last remaining warm days in the pool. Soon enough, James would have it emptied for the fall and winter. Harry still wasn't allowed to go completely under the water because of his nose, but that didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy himself. 

"There's a rumour in school that you got into a physical fight with Mr Snape." Harry rolled his eyes.

"It's absolutely ridiculous. We all know that you don't touch people, so why would you touch Snape just to fight him?" Hermione mentioned. She and Harry were sitting on the side of the pool while Ron, who was steadily getting darker red, was floating beside them. 

"Well, since your nose is broken and you have a black eye, people will believe it."

Harry rolled his eyes again. "I've never gotten into anything more than a verbal fight in my whole life."

"You've gotten into arguments?" Hermione asked, looking at him sideways.

"Hasn't everyone? I get into fights with Dad and Sirius all the time." Ron shifted so that he was standing in the pool rather than floating and the water came to the middle of his chest. 

"You do?" He asked, looking curious. 

"Of course. Don't you get into arguments with your parents?"

"Yea, but you guys all seem so...healthy," Ron explained, seeming like he was looking for the right words to say.

"What?" 

"I think he means that it doesn't seem like you'd be the type of family that argues," Hermione answered. Harry opened his mouth to talk, but before he could get any words out, the back door opened and James peeked out. 

"Harry, your glasses are in. I just got the call, we can get them today." Harry sighed. 

"It's about time."

"Well, they had to be shipped across a whole country, so it's obvious that it would have taken a while."

"Can Ron and Hermione come?"

"Well, that depends on when they have to be home." Harry looked at his friends. 

Hermione shrugged. "My parents don't care. Since it's not a school night, I could stay the night if I wanted to."

James raised a sceptical eyebrow. "They trust Harry that much?" Harry felt his face going red. 

"They trust me. And I'm pretty sure that Hary likes-" He scowled at her and she cleared her throat, "M- me just as a friend."

Ron, who seemed not to notice the exchange between his friends gave a sigh. "They're coming to get me at eight. Percy has this stupid college thing that he's been waiting for and we all have to go. Mom thinks that seeing a college will get us to work harder to get there."

"We'll be back in plenty time before that," James mentioned, ushering everyone out the door.

* * *

When Harry was able to see again, it was like he had forgotten what it was like. Everything had detail and defined edges instead of being colourful blobs. The glasses themselves were different than what they had been; instead of round wire glasses, they were a strong grey coloured plastic and more square than round. He could see the different shades of colour in Ron's eyes and Harry could see the natural highlights in Hermione's hair. He looked at her face for a long time, taking in the freckles scattered across her cheeks to the amber colour in her eyes. "You are so pretty." He mentioned, watching her go pink. Walking out, he looked at everything, from the different leaves on the trees to actually seeing clouds. 

"How long have you been without glasses?" Ron asked.

"A bit less than a year."

"Why so long?" Hermione continued. 

"Because I have a very specific prescription for glasses and my last ones were shattered. Then we moved so they had to be super careful when shipping them here."

"Why did they get broken?" Ron muttered. He heard a thwap sound which he believed was Hermione hitting Ron. Harry stifled a laugh, settling into the front seat of the car. Harry turned, looking at his friend. His father hadn't gotten in the car yet. 

"When I was in the car crash." Ron paled slightly, looking down. Looking at Ron, he could see the different colours of green and brown in his eyes and the pink that barely covered the large expanse of freckles on his face. "It's okay. You didn't know." He nodded, so Harry turned the radio on, waiting for James. They all stopped for ice cream again, Hermione getting Sherbet and Ron getting double chocolate while James and Harry stuck with what they had gotten before. 

When at home, Hermione called her parents to inform them she was staying the night and Ron waited for his family. "They are going to bring some stuff for me to wear," Hermione informed as she walked into the living room where everyone had gathered. James, Ron, and Sirius were sitting on one couch-Ron's face becoming as red as his hair again- Regulus was in a chair, and Remus and Harry were sitting on the other. Hermione sat down next to Harry, pulling her feet under her as she did. 

She looked at Regulus for a moment, then her eyes slid to Sirius. "Yea, he's my brother," Sirius informed. He still sounded bitter, but it was not nearly as bad as it was when he first came here.

Harry noticed that Regulus was sitting with his legs to his chest as if to cover his chest. His arms were slung over his legs as if to hold them in place. "Should I introduce myself?" She asked Harry, leaning over. 

"If you want to. You probably won't see much of him. If he's not in his room, he floats around the kitchen more than anything." Sirius snorted, gaining the looks of everyone in the room. Regulus looked like he would rather be floating around the kitchen than in this room. "Why... why don't we go up to my room and wait for Ron's parents?" Ron was up and walking up the stairs faster than Harry could process and Hermione and Harry looked at each other. Hermione laughed and they followed, not looking at any of the adults in the room. 

Harry could hear his father talking. "You think that-" Harry closed the door and the sound cut away. No one commented about Ron, who was sitting on Harry's bed, face in hands. Hermione seemed to be biting back a comment but said nothing.

* * *

Harry was sitting on his bed and Hermione in a chair in front of him and he was carefully braiding her hair. He had been braiding and unravelling her hair for the past half hour trying to think of something to say. How do you tell someone your biggest secret without them being upset that you kept said secret? He figured he should tell her because they were going to be sleeping in the same room. 

When he had her hair in a braid this time, he tied it off with elastic and pulled his hands away. "Um... Hermione?" She turned around with what looked like a rope in her hand, but it was different coloured and thinner. 

"Put your hand out." He tensed. "I will make sure not to touch your skin. Just trust me." Hesitantly, he held his right arm out, so she tied it around his wrist. True to her words, she never touched his skin. "There. Now you can't take it off." He felt a strange feeling in his chest as he looked at the bracelet on his wrist. She had a similar one on her own wrist as she smiled up at him. He swallowed thickly as he looked at her. With a deep breath, he silently prayed to whoever may or may not be listening that this goes well. 

"I want to tell you something." She turned fully around, full attention on Harry, which made his chest feel too tight. He swallowed what felt like a lump the size of a golf ball in his throat. There was a very big possibility that Hermione would reject him. he'd seen it before. He was watching the TV in the doctor's office a long time ago and the woman said that she was born the opposite gender and the person she was with left her and stopped talking to her completely. 

"Are you okay?"

"Y- yea." 

"Whatever it is, Harry, you can trust me." He took a deep breath. 

"I..." He felt his throat tighten and groaned. "I'm..." As if taking pity on him, she touched his arm over his sleeve. He opened his eyes, having not realized he closed them. Her eyes were soft and caring. 

"Harry, I know you're trans." He jumped, pulling away from her. "That's what it's called, right? I mean, I was doing research ever since I found out and don't want to use the wrong thing."

"When..." She smiled at him. 

"Since the first day we met. I wanted to mention something, but I figured you would when you were ready if you ever wanted to. There isn't much information in the library about it, but I tried my best to become as knowledgeable as possible." He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more stressed. If she found out so easily, who's to say that it wasn't obvious. 

"How... how did you..." His throat was closing up again and tears were pricking in his eyes. 

"When you looked like you were about to deck Draco Malfoy and I stopped you." Harry put his hand on his chest. When she had touched his chest, she probably felt his binder. 

"You've..." She smiled kindly again.

"I've known since the beginning and I don't care. You're still Harry. You're still one of my best friends. You're still the only guy of all of my friends who don't try to tell me how I should do absolutely everything."

"What about Ron?"

"That dipstick tells me how I should try to brush my hair to keep it from getting frizzy." Harry winced, aware that he had gotten the same treatment when he was a child. 

"I remember me and my mom were walking through the store when I was a child and this lady walked up and asked my mom if I was adopted. I can never understand why people always ask that. When Mom said no, she mentioned that there was a special gel for natural hair that would easily control my hair."

"Oh, god. What did your mom say?"

"I remember it. She said I would know how to handle my own child's hair.  _ She came out of me, so I can manage on my own. _ " Hermione snorted, "then she pulled me up into her arms,  _ And if you're done being a damn insensitive cow, we will be going now. _ " Hermione laughed out loud. She moved up on the bed as well. "Because she was so pale, I've always been confused about being adopted, or babysat." They shared stories that Harry thought he could never talk about, from Sirius nearly getting into a fight with someone who purposely misgendered him, to Lily being called brave for having a child with James, to which Harry's mother had the cops called on her because she threatened to beat the racism out of a woman. 

Around eleven at night, James knocked on the door and walked in, stopped when he saw that Harry and Hermione were sitting on his bed talking. Harry smiled at his father, who gave a warm smile in return. "I'm going to bed, okay?" Harry and Hermione nodded. "Sirius will still be up for a while with Remus and they'll make sure to keep to themselves while they are downstairs. Don't stay up too late." Harry nodded, so he backed out, and Hermione stretched and yawned. 

"I'm usually not awake this long." Harry chuckled, setting up the bed. 


	15. Chapter 15

Harry wasn't sure he was ready to go back to school on Monday. As if the universe knew his struggle, the air had a cold touch that seemed to sink into his skin no matter what he was wearing. It made his nose a bit sore, but not so much that he was having a problem. Pulling into himself at the chill, he sat in the car waiting for his dad to get a move on. When he finally came, Harry could swear that his fingers were going to shrivel up and fall off. 

When Harry watched James come out of the front door, he didn't expect to see short black hair and pale skin. Regulus seemed nervous as he approached the car. He and James had a small conversation that was quiet enough that Harry couldn't hear, then Regulus sat in back while James sat in front. "Why's he coming?"

"He has to learn the way to your school like everyone else," James mentioned as the engine roared to life. Most of the ride was relatively quiet until they hit a red light. "Did you get all of your work done?"

"Yes, Dad. I had trouble with science because he seems to be purposely trying to fail me, but I called Hermione and she helped." 

"Math?"

"Finished it the first day."

"History?" The car began to move as the light shifted colours.

"I know more about the first and second world war than I ever thought I would know." 

"Art?"

"Drawing pictures is easy when you've been doing it all your life." James snorted. 

"Okay, Remember not to do anything out of line because if you get another detention from him, I'm pretty sure Sirius is close to murder."

"I know. Do what I'm told, keep quiet, talk only when spoken to, don't disrupt the class. It's easy to say, you know. It's really hard to do. Especially when I don't do anything to get in trouble."

"Just... try your best."

"You never answered my question," Harry stated upon the realization. 

"What question?"

"What did you do to make him hate you so much he takes it out on me?"

"We'll talk about that another time," James stated, paying attention to his driving. Harry huffed but didn't say anything else.

"Who is it?" Regulus asked from the back seat and Harry remembered that he was there. 

"My science teacher is a jerk." 

"Severus." James mentioned, and Regulus' eyes widened in disbelief. 

"I thought that after you got married to Lily, he-" James made a hissing sound in his throat. Harry looked from Regulus to his father. 

"What about Mom? Does this have something to do with her?" James sighed as he tapped the steering wheel with his thumbs. 

"We will talk about it later. I promise." He assured at Harry's doubtful glare. "I don't want you to stress about this. You already have schoolwork to worry about. Personally, I would have liked for you not to know." James pulled the car to a stop at the building, but Harry didn't move. 

"You swear you'll tell me?" His father turned in his seat, looking straight at Harry. James put one hand on his chest and raised the other one. 

"I solemnly swear." Harry snorted this time.

At breakfast, a girl walked up and sat down. Harry looked around thinking maybe she was at the wrong table. "So it's true then?"

"What's true?"

"You were in a fight with Mr Snape?"

"I would say it was more of an argument." She frowned at him. 

"But he hit you, didn't he?"

"No? He... why would he hit me? I'm a student."

"Well, that's what people are saying. You shouldn't have people thinking that."

"I didn't have-"

"If you're going to to have people believe it happened, you should at least get your story straight." He watched, incredulously as she walked away, seeming almost upset with him. Harry was still confused about it when Hermione came and sat down. 

"What happened?" She asked, looking at him. 

"Apparently, people actually think Snape punched me and she was upset because I didn't? Or more like, maybe upset that I told the truth?"

"I told you that. This school spreads rumours like a communicable disease." She muttered. Harry was going to ask what that meant, but Ron came and he forgot.

Harry was almost not surprised that there was a substitute for Snape. He was a larger man who was bigger around the belly than anyone else that Harry had ever seen. Sure he didn't go out much, but that's entirely beside the point. 

He introduced himself as Slughorn, to which Harry had to bite his tongue not to snort, and explained that he would be substituting for Snape for a while. All he explained was that the science teacher had a family emergency and it was unclear how long he would be out. 

That surprised Harry more than anything, the idea that Snape had a family. Harry turned in his work to which Mr Slughorn beamed at him. When he walked back to his desk, the first thing he did was catch the attention of the blonde sitting next to him. "What?" He asked as the other boy stared. 

"You face." He felt his hands shoot to his own face, feeling the soft skin under his eye. It was still tender, but not as bad as it had been. Harry was able to go without the brace of his nose so it just looked bruised. 

"Yea. I broke my nose."

"On what?" He thought for a moment. Was he trying to get the whole story like the girl at breakfast, or was he actually curious?

"Sirius?" Harry offered with a sly smile. They talked for a while since the teacher decided it was a great day for a free period, Hermione coming over and sitting in Lavender's chair because she was somewhere else in the room. Hermione had already known what happened, so she waited patiently while Harry explained. 

"Does it still hurt?"

"Not if I leave it alone." He mentioned. "It kind of hurts to wear glasses after a while, but all I have to do is take them off for a minute." He looked at Draco now that he could properly see. His hair was gelled back as it usually was. His face had sharp features and his silvery eyes had flecks of dark and light grey mixed in. His skin was clear and pale and looked soft, not that Harry could ever find out. 

When Harry turned to Hermione, Draco shifted his seat closer. They talked for a while until the bell rang and they all went to their classes.

* * *

While Harry was waiting for someone to pick him up, he heard someone calling his name. He turned to see Draco walking up. The air had gotten warmer as the day went on, so Draco wasn't wearing his jacket. "Hey."

"Hi," Harry responded, shifting his bag on his shoulder. He was tired and feeling a bit too hot and wanted nothing more than to go home and change. 

"Are you doing anything this weekend?" Harry tensed, looking at the blonde. 

"Why?" Draco's face turned pink as his eyes rolled over Harry's face. 

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to do something." He seemed nervous. Harry wondered for a moment if Draco was nervous to be around him. But that was quickly extinguished with the memory of the party that he went to. Everything seemed fine then, so why was it different now?

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Maybe playing video games. Or..." His eyes were rolling around as if looking for the answer in the air. "Or maybe you could choose. What to do. But... together." Harry felt a smile creeping up on his face. 

"You have no idea what other people do, do you?"

"My two closest friends are Pansy and Blaise. When I'm with Pansy, she makes me paint her toes while talking about boys and when I'm with Blaise, he talks about Pansy." Harry gave a chuckle. 

"You think Blaise likes Pansy?" He asked, looking up at the blonde. "You know, just a hunch?" Draco snorted. 

"I have no idea what you're getting that from." Harry laughed out loud at that.

"I'm probably free this weekend. I'll have to ask my dad." He watched Draco put his hand to his hair, fidgeting with it at the nape of his neck. "Have you ever thought to leave it down?" Harry asked as he watched the car pulling up. 

"Down?"

"You hair. Without the gel, I mean."

"Why would I?"

"Because it was down at the pool party and I think it looked good." Draco went pink again. He seemed to do that quite often. "Either way, it's your hair. It was just a suggestion." When he opened the car door, he noticed that Remus was driving. Sitting on the seat, he pulled the door closed, waving at Draco through the window as Remus drove away. "Where's dad? And Sirius, actually. Like, you're usually the last resort when it comes to people driving me. Aside from Regulus now, I guess."

"Well, they are a bit busy."

"Doing what?" 

"I'm not supposed to say." He looked at Remus, looking for signs that it wasn't a good secret. When he didn't detect anything, he shrugged and sat back. Walking up to the door when they made it home, he barely opened the door before something tackled him, licking his face. He laughed out loud as he put his hands into thick soft fur. Trying to push back the giant creature, he couldn't stop himself from laughing, even as pain splintered from the back of his skull. 

When he was able to sit up, he was faced towards a giant wolf looking dog. James walked out, leaning against the door. "So I guess he found you." Harry buried his face into the soft dark fur on the dog's shoulder. 

"Is this what the surprise was?" He asked Remus, digging his hands into the fur to ruffle it, which caused the dog to wag his tail. Playing with the ears, Harry flopped them around as he talked. 

"Yea. It was Sirius' idea since you said you wanted one." He did say that, but he also said that he didn't in a moment of anger. Harry looked at the large dog. His fur was black and was smattered with patches of grey hair. If not for the fact that he was tame- sort of, Harry thought as his face was licked again- he would honestly believe that he was next to a wolf. 

"He's a bit older," Sirius mentioned as he peaked over James' shoulder, "But he's very loyal and well trained. 

"What's his name?"

"He responds to Padfoot. And Pads. And Padly, for some reason. Basically, anything dealing with the word Pad." Harry smiled, putting his arms around the great dog before he felt pressure behind his face and let out a sneeze, which burned his nose slightly. He ran upstairs, quickly changing out of his school uniform and into regular clothes, before running with Padfoot outside. He ran around, playing with the dog, throwing things for him to bring it back.

* * *

James watched Harry through the window as he threw a stick, cheering when Padfoot brought it back. "When was the last time he was this happy?" Sirius asked, walking up behind him. He looked back at his longtime friend, noticing that he was watching Harry as well. 

"Before the accident, that's for sure." He looked at his son, who was running around the backyard, avoiding the pool, which had been emptied for fall and winter that day. "I talked to Dr Pomfrey."

"You did?"

"She said that she couldn't go into details because of doctor-patient things, but she said that he wants to be better. He wants to be able to touch people again." James snorted, "Do you see how he looks at that Draco kid?"

Sirius groaned. "It's almost frightening. I don't think he's ever looked at anyone like that. Hell, even before Remus, I've never looked at anyone like that. You didn't even look at Lily like that. Who would have thought that a pale looking kid would kickstart his libido three years after puberty." 

"And here you thought that it wasn't going to happen."

"That's not unusual. I've read about it. It's happening more and more with more children being born. They just don't want to do anything."

"And you thought Harry was like that?"

"It was a possibility. You saw how he was. He never even spared anyone a glance if they weren't friends. I figured it would be Hermione. He sees her as a sister though."

"You didn't think he'd like Ron?" James asked with a sideways glance. "Is it weird that we're talking about my son's none existent sex life?"

"It's what parents do. I think." Sirius shrugged, "I thought it was Ron at first. But again, just friends." Sirius looked pensive for a moment. "Speaking of Ron, did I tell you what happened at the party?" James turned to Sirius for a moment. "I was in my room and I heard Harry knock, so when I opened the door, Harry was going to speak, but then Ron turned as red as the shade of his hair and stayed there, just staring. It was really weird. Harry saved him by pushing him into his room, but I've never had anyone turn red like that."

James laughed. "It's probably a teenager thing." He mentioned, then hummed. "I feel so old saying that." pulling himself to sit on the counter, James looked at Sirius. "Are we out of touch?"

It's probably them." It was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure I like who it is that Harry likes though." James looked at Sirius, but his eyes were elsewhere like he was remembering something bad. "He's like my  second cousin or something."

"He's nice to Harry, though, isn't he? Or else Harry wouldn't talk to him."

"You know how my family is, James. They're all the same. some of them even worse. Look at Bella." James didn't want to think about Sirius' deranged cousin. He'd only met her once and it was enough for him to know that she was bad news. She just seemed... unhinged. Sirius mentioned something about her being in a bad spot, associating with the wrong sort of people. 

"You think he's like them?"

"I don't know. I've never really known him. I had long since left by the time he was born, so I never had the misfortune." James nodded, turning slightly to look back out the window. Harry was laying on the ground, Padfoot scooting his way up and laying his head on Harry's belly. 

It was silent for a long time while he watched Harry playing with the dog. "I love him."

"I know you do."

"I think he still blames himself." Sirius didn't respond immediately, shifting his weight so that he was leaning back against the counter. 

"I remember when you were out and I was taking care of him because he was sick. It was before we moved and he was lying in his bed. When I went up to check on him, he was crying. I swear that's the only time I've seen him cry. He must have been really out of it because I sat next to him and he grabbed me and pulled me in. He was crying because he remembered her and the only image in his head was the last thing he saw of her." It felt like there was a hole where James' heart should be. "He said he was sorry that she was gone and he wished that she was here so you wouldn't be so upset all the time."

James swallowed thickly. "I just wanted him to have a happy childhood."

"I know."

"Is this a bad time?" A voice came from the living room. He looked back to see Regulus standing there, letter in hand. Sirius made a noise and made his way to the stairs. Regulus watched with a pained expression as Sirius' form disappeared.

* * *

After playing until it was dark and cold, Harry walked with Padfoot back into the house. The black dog shook himself from the cold and circled Harry. "wanna come meet Hedwig? She probably hasn't left yet." Padfoot gave a small bark, so Harry ran upstairs. Outside of the window, he could see her white form sharp against the darker trees. "Sorry," He mentioned, patting Padfoot's head. "Just missed her." He knew soon that closed from the cold and what he had to do. years ago, when they had bought her from the store, the man explained that she can go into freezing temperatures and that she didn't need to migrate, which caused him to offer them a specialized kind of house that would be warm enough for her if it ever became too cold, but she was able to get outside to eat. With a sigh, Harry made his way to his father.

"Hey, dad?" He asked the door to James' room. After a moment, the door opened and James walked out. 

"What's up, kiddo?"

"We're going to need Hedwig's outside house soon." He thought for a moment. 

"It's probably in the basement with all the other stuff that we didn't know where to put."

"Along with the pants and shirts that Grandma bought for Sirius so he could wear regular clothes?"

"And your mom's miniature snow globe collection."

Half of those are probably broken now."

"She only collected them so she could irritate me." Harry nodded. He knew about that story. Before he was born, she went to the store and came back with a tiny snowglobe that fit in her hand and she cried about it because the globe was cute but the baby was hideous. His dad told her to take it back and get their money back if it was ugly, but she kept it anyway, buying more and more, making sure they were all as ugly as the first.

"Can we go get it?"

"Sure. Lead the way, but I'm not letting you set it up without my help this time." They began to walk down the stairs.

"I'm fifteen now. I'm more responsible."

"Harry, that was just last year." Harry rolled his eyes again. last year, he wanted to put it up for her, but it had rained the night prior and froze over so he slipped and fell off of the porch. Luckily it was a rather low roof so it just winded him.

"You can learn so much in a year." When Harry opened the basement door, he heard someone yelling. He looked back at James, who had his eyebrows scrunched together. Together they walked downstairs, past the library and James opened the door.

"-why I'm trying to do the right thing!" Regulus mentioned.

"Maybe you should have done the right thing thirty fucking years ago!"

"I made a mistake, Sirius. My life has been full of mistakes. I'm trying!"

"Try somewhere else, then! There's plenty of other people that you've pissed off, start with them."

"In case you weren't listening, Sirius, I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO!"

"MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE AT ALL THEN."

"I CAME HERE BECAUSE IM TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR ALL OF THE BULLSHIT! ALL IM ASKING FOR IS A CHANCE!" Regulus' voice was shaking and Harry couldn't tell if it was from anger or grief. "Punch me, kick me, beat the shit out of me again. I will literally take anything if you'd just be willing to fucking talk to me."

Harry looked up at his father, whose face was hard in a scowl. "Again?" Harry whispered. It took a while for James to tear his eyes from the arguing brothers so he could down. 

"When Sirius was younger, he was having a sort of thing with this one kid from our school. Regulus told his mom about it and she didn't like it so she did some bad things to him. Later, he found out who told her and hurt Regulus. The next time anyone saw Regulus, he was all bruised and had a broken arm." Harry's eyes widened, looking at his godfather. He'd never known he would be the kind of person who would hurt his own brother like that. "I know what you're thinking. He's not usually like that. Usually, he's just fine with a punch in the face or something like that, which is only rare. He doesn't like fighting. It's just that... Sirius trusted Regulus more than anything because they were so close. It was a really big thing that Regulus told their mother and it hurt Sirius more than anything prior had."

"What..." He swallowed, his eyes gliding to Sirius. "What did his mother do? After that, I mean."

"He doesn't like talking about it. He was in the hospital for a really long time. He had a lot of broken bones and was bleeding in- in some places and would jump when anyone would touch him. After he made it home, the first thing he did was pack a bag and ran away. He ended up living with me and we've been together ever since." James looked like he was about to cry as he looked up at his friend. "It took a very long time for him to trust me again, let alone anyone else."

"You?"

"He kind of shut himself out of everyone's lives for a long time. He wouldn't talk to anyone unless he was spoken to and even then it was precious little."

"Dad?" James looked down at Harry. "Why didn't she like who he was with?"

"There are people, Harry, that aren't as accepting as you or me, or your mom. You remember when Lily was in the hospital and her sister was there?" Harry nodded, "And how mean Vernon was? Well, there are people who are worse than that. Sometimes, it's about race, sometimes it’s about gender, and sometimes it's about who a person loves." James gave a short bitter laugh. "I had hoped that I never had to explain this to you. It's a cruel world, Harry Potter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking up bird facts for the win. Also, I'm not gonna go into detail about what exactly happened to Sirius, but it'll be addressed later. I'm kind of in the middle of a writer's block in the story, so even though I've already written a few chapters ahead (four to be exact) I won't upload them until I can get a proper flow back. I'm gonna work on other things in the meantime, so I'm not gonna just drop off completely.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I live in America and it's possible that in less than a week, I will lose my internet access, I'm going to start uploading again with what I have up to this point.

The conversation resonated with Harry for a long time. He laid in bed that night, curled up with Padfoot and stroking his fur as the dog breathed calmly with sleep, thinking about it. Harry couldn't imagine his mother hurting him like Sirius' mother did. Why would anyone do such a thing to their own child? Didn't she love him? His gut twisted uncomfortably the longer he thought about it.his mother only ever spanked him for doing wrong once and it was more to frighten him than hurt him. The thought that she had broken bones and made him bleed made him sad for Sirius. 

It was times like this that Harry was glad that Sirius was with them now. Looking at his clock, it was 12:22. Careful of the giant dog, Harry climbed out of bed and opened his door. the light was on, so Harry walked over and knocked. Sirius opened the door, noticed Harry, and looked at his watch. "It's kind of late, is everything okay?"

"Y-yea. I just... I wanted to talk." Sirius' brows raised and he opened the door further. Harry didn't come in here much. There was a large bed in the centre of the room where Sirius and Remus slept. You could tell which side belonged to who because of the state of the room around it. One side of the blanket was neat and the nightstand was organized. The floor was pristine and everything seemed to have a place. The other side of the blanket was crumpled and there were clothes on the floor in a pile in the corner, the nightstand looked like a disaster zone and there were even clothes sticking out of the drawers of the dresser. Harry walked in and sat at the end of the bed. Remus was still reading in the basement, which is where he spent most of the time that he wasn't cooking or spending time with Sirius. 

"What's up?"

"Dad told me about why you left. Your mom, I mean. He said that she hurt you really bad before you ran away." Sirius took in a deep breath. "um, you told me that if I ever wanted to talk, even if it wasn't important, that you'd be there. I know I'm probably not the person you want to talk to about this, but I just wanted you to have the same opportunity. if you ever want to talk about things, I'm here." Sirius smiled sadly, sitting next to Harry on the bed. "If you don't want to talk, that's okay too. I don't want to push it because all of my doctors have always said that pushing someone to talk might just do more harm than good, but you can when you want to."

Harry, that was a long time ago."

"I once read about a lady who kept a secret for almost sixty years before she finally told her daughter the truth on her deathbed that she wasn't her real mother.Her late husband had cheated on her and they made a baby, but the woman didn't want the baby so he had to take and raise her."

"What kind of things are you reading?"

"It was a conspiracy magazine in the library," Harry explained shortly, then went back to the matter at hand. "Anyways, she said that she wouldn't pass on peacefully if she hadn't told her daughter and it felt like a giant weight was lifted when she said something." Sirius looked at Harry, then stared at the wall for a moment. 

"How about this. I'll talk to you about my childhood if you talk to me about your mom." Harry jerked back, scowling. He knew what he was trying to do. He was bargaining the conversation out of Harry. That made him wonder if Sirius had planned this the whole time. he weighed his options for a moment. He would get to know more about his godfather than he knew before, but he would also be talking about something that made him feel like his stomach was being pressed on by an elephant. 

"Would you tell Dad anything we talk about?"

"Not if you don't tell him." Harry smiled and nodded. 

"But you have to talk first." Sirius pulled in another deep breath through his nose, exhaling in a short burst through his mouth. before he even managed to get the whole breath out, he started to yawn so big that Harry could see dark grey parts of his teeth, which he guessed were where fillings are.

"That's fine. But we'll start soon, okay? I have to go get my bookworm and go to bed. You have school tomorrow. I want you to bother Snape as much as possible, okay?"

"I can't." Sirius looked at Harry again, confused.

"Why not?"

"He's out. A man named Mr Slughorn is filling in for him until further notice. No one knows why he left or when he is coming back. Personally, I hope he never does." Sirius nodded.

"I had him as a classmate. I'd hate to have him as a teacher."

* * *

Harry barely managed to make it through science. This teacher was the exact opposite of Snape. He was always smiling and it made Harry uncomfortable. They had to continue working on the anatomy with the partner they had before, so Harry was sitting a few feet from Draco, who was twirling his pencil in his fingers as he looked at his paper. Instead of filling in where Draco missed, he found himself watching thin fingers moving around. They were long and thin and almost looked delicate, but in a way that made them look almost pretty. Every few minutes, he went from twirling it between two fingers to making it go in circles. He would flip it from finger to finger, moving it down his hand and back up before restarting the process over again. His hand waved and Harry realized that Draco was trying to gain his attention. 

"Harry?" Jumping, he turned to look at Draco's face. "You're staring off into space again."

"Sorry. There's a bunch of stuff on my mind."

"I can tell. How about we get this done and you can stare out the window all you want." Harry nodded, looking down at his work. They were given a piece of paper with a crudely drawn skeleton and were told to name as many bones as they knew. Draco cleared his throat and began to talk, so Harry looked up from his paper. "So, every year the town hosts this Halloween party for anyone to join and it's usually really fun because they put a great deal of work into it. They call it the Monster Bash. It's a really cheesy rip off of an old song."

"Yea?"

"Are you going to go?"

"I don't celebrate holidays. Except I have no choice to celebrate my birthday because Sirius thinks I'm missing out on my childhood."

"I mean, you don't have to celebrate a holiday just to a costume party." 

"That makes sense, but me not celebrating Halloween entails that I do not have a costume to go to such a party that requires costumes."

"There's a store that opens only in October that sells nothing but Halloween related things like costumes and face paint. I could take you." His face went a bit pink. "O-or your dad could." He looked at Draco for a long time.

"I'll think about it." His eyes widened and his face lit up. 

"That's great." He met up with Hermione and they walked to the next class. The day went relatively smooth. He told Hermione and Ron about Padfoot at lunch and they talked about dogs the entire time, coming up to the conclusion that yes, dogs are the best animal. Later, in art, the teacher was talking about the theory behind the art. 

"Art is, in it's rawest form, peace. Music is art. Writing is art. Drawing, building, singing, some people believe that fighting is an art form. It's all a tool to get out emotions. If you're angry, you scream. You're making music. If you're inspired, you draw. If you're bored in class, you doodle. Art is a coping mechanism. Granted, not everyone thinks this way. Some see it a way to earn money, selling their work. Others believe that art has no purpose. When you look at a piece of art, you can almost feel it." She pointed to the wall, so Harry looked behind himself to see a poster of Starry Night by Van Gogh. "Harry." He jumped and turned around to look at her.

"Yes?"

"When you look at Starry Night, what do you see?"

"The sky over a city?"

"Okay, what do you feel when you look at it. Turn around and really look at the picture." He turned and pulled himself up so that he was sitting on the desk to get a better look. His eyes roved over the different shades of blue, intercepted by the different stars and the moon. "What do you feel?"

He swallowed thickly. "Lonely." He accidentally mentioned, feeling himself get red. 

"Explain." Harry turned back around, pulling his feet into the chair so that he could lean into his knees. 

"Well, it's like... big, you know? Like, it feels like he knew what other people didn't and tried to explain it through his painting. Like he knew that the universe was bigger than anything we ever imagined and all we see is little specks in the sky. Even Earth, as big as we see it as it's so tiny in comparison to everything else." His eyes flicked over to Hermione, whose eyes were shining. 

"That was wonderful, Harry. And he's exactly right. On a cosmological scale, we are nothing but a passing memory. All of the people that you praise for being great, those actors and singers, everyone will pass eventually. As will you and me and everyone you look at walking down the street. Everyone will pass. It's up to you to determine if you'll be remembered." She looked at the opposite wall. "Draco." He looked at Draco, who was looking at him with a look that he didn't understand. Draco looked at Ms Sinastra. 

"Yes?"

"Look there." Everyone looked as well at a painting of a blue coloured man with a guitar. "Do you know what that painting is called?" Hermione's hand shot into the air. She smiled at Hermione but didn't call her. 

"I... don't know."

"Hermione?"

"The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso."

"Very good. It was from Picasso's Blue Period. He spent a few years painting with mainly if not only shades of blue or black. Why do you think that is?" A girl across the room raised her hand. She was dark like him, with equally dark hair and a red insignia. "Parvati."

"Wasn't he driven by a friend who had killed himself?"

"Yes, he was. Very good. After hearing the fate of one of his close friends, Carlos Casagemas, he began to paint in monochrome shades of blue and blue-green. This picture, Draco, what do you feel?"

"Like he's going to die soon." Someone snorted at him, but Draco didn't turn around. 

"That's very common as a thought actually. This man is blind, destitute and alone. If it were in different colours, say pink for instance. The exact same painting down to the very brush strokes, but in pink, you would still get the same impression that it's not a happy picture because of how he looks. When you go home today, I want you to look at a picture. Maybe it's at the library, a book about something, a painting at home, or even a picture that you see in the car. look at what the image is trying to represent. Our next project is going to be all about emotions. We're going to see if we can create a certain emotion with just images."

When school was over, he was waiting for someone to pick him up. "Have you decided yet?" He looked at Draco, who was wrapped tightly in a fluffy coat that looks comfortable compared to the thin jacket that Harry was wearing. 

"I have a few weeks." He joked, watching Draco out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, about today..."

"What about it?"

"In art. That thing you said about Starry Night."

"Okay?" He looked like he was going to say something, but cut himself off, most likely not going with what he was originally going to say. 

"Do you really feel like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're alone in the universe." Harry snorted. "I mean, when was the last time you actually touched a person's skin?"

"About two years ago."

"Why did you stop?"

"I'd like to stop talking about this."

"That's alright." Harry looked over at Draco, whose eyes were downcast, staring at the ground. Harry wanted nothing more at that moment to touch Draco, to feel his skin and not get sick that his chest ached. The car pulled up and It was Remus and James. 

"I'll talk to you later."

"Think about it. I mean, really think. It'll be loads of fun." He waved as he climbed in. As they drove away, Harry spoke. 

"Hey, Remus. Do you have any books about art? Like the feeling you get from it?" He looked back at Harry. 

"No, I don't think I do. We could go to the library."

"It's for art. That might work." The ride changed from going home to heading downtown to the library. it was giant compared to Remus', with books and magazines as far as Harry could see. 

"Go look for the book," James instructed, so Harry walked. the section about art was simple to find. He looked through the selections that were eye level. _Art through the Ages, Creatures of the art world, art skills for the blind of skill_. Harry snorted, looking up. he noticed that a book called _Art Impressionism_ was at the top of the bookcase. Judging the bookcase compared to his height, even on his tiptoes, he wouldn't even get close. Why did they have to make the bookcase so tall? Looking around, he saw a chair, pulling it over. It was rickety and shaky, but it would have to do. 

With a sigh, he put his bag down and climbed up, this time, his fingers barely grazed the side. He looked at the desk to see Remus and James in a conversation with the librarian. He didn't want to yell through the library, but he also didn't want to forget where the book was. 

Getting on the very tip of his toes, he jumped up and grabbed the book. When Harry came down, though, the chair shook and he couldn't gain his balance and slipped. He grabbed at the air as he fell, but there was nothing to hold on to, so he just accepted his fate, holding the book to his chest. When he landed, but it wasn't painful, he tensed and opened his eyes. When he realized that someone was holding him, he scrambled to stand quickly, brushing himself off. 

Remus was the first one at the scene, looking at the toppled chair and at the boy who helped him. Harry looked as well at the boy's face. To say that he was pretty would be an understatement. He was soft features and easy angles, almost opposite of Draco, which Harry couldn't understand why he instantly jumped to that comparison. "What happened?" Remus asked. James made his way over and looked over Remus' shoulder, first at his son then at the other boy. 

"You okay?" Harry nodded. 

"I.... I almost fell and..." He motioned at the boy who only looked a bit older than Harry did. "He c-caught me." The other boy seemed to look shy for a moment.

"You're Harry, right?" Harry tensed. "You're new. Well, relatively."

"What about it?"

"I mean, you're the only person who's ever been brave enough to cuss at a teacher, so you're making a name for yourself." He could swear that out of the corner of his eye, he saw James beam with pride. 

"It's not usually how I am. I was just in a bad mood."

"I understand. He tends to put everyone in a bad mood." Harry smiled as kindly as he could while being nervous about another person who thought that he was brave for getting angry. "Anyway, you're welcome for catching you and all, but I have to go." Harry watched him walking out of the room and let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. 

"Well, that was awkward. Did you find the book?" James asked, so Harry held it up. The ride home was quiet and awkward, but when they made it inside, Regulus and Sirius were sitting in the livingroom- Sirius was laying across the couch while Regulus was sitting in the chair and Harry noticed a distinct purple mark on the latter's face. Harry was going to ask what was going on, but Padfoot came down and he was distracted.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna add a few chapters to compensate for the lack of updating recently.

Harry was sitting at breakfast eating the bagel looking thing when someone walked up behind him. "Please don't touch me," He accidentally mentioned out loud. 

"Right, sorry." He looked up to see the boy from before. "I forgot. I'm... Cedric."

"It's okay, I guess. I'm Harry, as you already know." He sat down and Harry took a good look at him. He was very pretty. Soft brown hair and sharp eyes that seemed to take in every detail, Harry liked looking at his face. It wasn't the same as it was with-

"HARRY!" He cringed as he turned to see Draco walking into the area. He screamed Harry's name from the other end of the room causing some of the people to chuckle and Harry's face to go hot. When he walked over, he sat down, looking at Cedric. He squinted at the older boy as if he didn't trust him, but Cedric just kept his face neutral. "Diggory. I didn't know you hung out with lowerclassmen."

"Well, I met and helped Hary yesterday so I figured we could talk some more."

"Helped?" Draco asked, looking directly at Harry, who ran a hand through his hair. 

"Yea. Yesterday at the library, I almost fell trying to get a book and he caught me." Draco's eyes locked onto Cedric's with distrust. "Thanks for that, by the way. I'm not sure if I said so, but thanks."

"You're welcome. Well, I can tell when I'm not wanted, so I'll see you later, Harry." He watched Cedric walk away, turning to scowl at Draco.

"What was that about?"

"What?" He asked as if he didn't know that he just glared someone away. 

"What's with the cold shoulder routine? He was just trying to be nice."

"I wasn't-"

"Yes, you were. You just stared daggers at him until he walked away. That was rude."

"Harry, I-"

"Am I not allowed to have other friends? Is that it? Because if you're going to be like that, I'd rather have him as a friend than someone who's trying to control my life. Jeez, Sirius doesn't even control my friends and he acts more like a protective father than my own father sometimes."

"No, Harry. I..." He looked down as if he were having an entire argument in his head. "I'm sorry. I just..." He trailed off. His eyes locked on Harry's. "I'm sorry." Harry narrowed his eyes but was distracted when Hermione sat down, hair more frazzled than normal, sticking out in different directions. "What happened to you?" 

Her look caused Draco to slide his chair away slightly. Harry put his hand on her sleeved arm. "What's wrong, Hermione?" She let out a loud sigh, letting her face fall into her hands, her fingers lacing into her hair. 

"Oh, Harry. I've made a mistake. Next year, my mom is making me do something as a sport to balance my schedule she says. But I'm already learning how to play violin at home and I signed up for tutoring next year, plus towards the end of this year, some students are going to be chosen to guide some eight grade students around so they know the layout of the school and it's always the highest graded students of each color and-" She took a deep breath, seeming like she was close to tears.

"Why don't you cancel something?" Harry looked up to see Ron walking over. He sat next to Hermione. "I mean, if it's that overwhelming, why not just stop something. Like, do you really need to play the violin?"

"My mother already set up a meeting for someone to watch me play. It could mean a career in music."

"So if you go for a career in music, why need sports?" Harry asked, trying to help.

"My mother said that if I get lazy, there's no point in me doing anything. Plus she played soccer in school and she turned out great."

"Then drop tutoring for next year," Draco mentioned.  Hermione only groaned out something about the children she would be letting down. When the bell rang, Harry, Draco and Hermione made their way to science, each of them turning in the paper from the day before as they walked in. 

"You really shouldn't overstress yourself, Hermione. We're only in ninth grade." Harry offered, walking to their seats. Since Snape was no longer teaching, they were allowed to sit anywhere as long as they kept up their work. Harry sat in his seat in the very back, Hermione sat in front of him, and Draco sat to the side. 

"So, my problems aside," She muttered, making Harry frown, "How are things at home?"

"I'm pretty sure that Sirius punched Regulus in the face, but the way I hear it, that's how he solves his issues with people." She paused, looking at him. 

"What problems would he have with his own brother?"

"Apparently something bad happened when they were younger. Sirius won't talk about it and I don't really know Regulus enough to ask. All I know is Sirius got in trouble with his mom about something because of Regulus and he was badly hurt." Hermione looked down, before looking up at Harry again. 

"They're okay now?"

"Well, they screamed at each other and Regulus had a bruise last time I saw him, so I think so. Maybe next time you come, you can ask him yourself." She shook her head and Harry grinned. "You aren't going to turn pink every time he's in the room, are you?"

She laughed out loud. "I'm not Ron and he's not your godfather, so no, I don't think so." On the way out of the class, Draco pulled him to the side. 

"Harry?" He asked, looking around. His voice was low as if he didn't want to be overheard. 

"Yea?" 

Draco winced for a moment as he looked anywhere but Harry's face. "Are... are you really okay with..." He trailed off. 

"What is it?"

"Your... godfather..." 

"Yea?"

"Are you really okay with his... partner?" 

"What are you saying, Draco? You- you've had no problems before."

"I just... I heard someone talking about a relationship between two guys."

"What about it?" Harry felt irritation building in his chest. 

"Isn't it weird? I mean, they can't have kids. They can't get married. It's not... natural." Anger filled Harry as he looked at his friend or someone who was supposed to be his friend. 

"So what? So what if it's not natural to you? It is to me. They love each other and they're happy, so that's all that matters."

"Harry," Draco pleaded, looking around.

"Don't. They're happy and in love and that's all that matters. If you don't like it-" He was trying to keep himself calm, but it wasn't working so easily. "If you don't like it, you don't have to be my friend. You don't have to be part of my life then." Harry saw hurt in Draco's face and that was fuel enough to walk away, to his class, sitting next to Hermione. 

He put his head down, trying to calm himself. The bell rang as he sat there, but he didn't move. McGonagall began talking, but he didn't look up even then, keeping his head down until he was forced to do the classwork or risk getting sent to the office again. When he looked at his desk, a folded note was sitting there. 

Opening it, he read What happened? In pretty writing that belonged to Hermione. Malfoy said stuff about Sirius and Remus. He wrote back, looking at the difference between his writing and hers. While hers seemed more neat, professional, his was scratchy and messy. With a sigh, he folded the note, brushing it off the desk to the floor where she picked it up and looked at it. He watched her shoulders sag, but she didn't respond. It wasn't until the end of class that she turned around and looked at him. 

"I'm sorry, Harry." He just shook his head, resting it on his fist. 

"He's just... being a toerag." Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. 

"What's..." She trailed off, as if not sure she even heard him correctly, but he just chuckled. 

"I have no idea. My mom used to say it." They shared a laugh before he let his head fall to the desk with a loud cluck. 

"What happened, Harry?"

"He pulled me aside and said that it wasn't natural."

"He's a toerag." She mentioned, causing Harry to laugh out loud. Thankful that it was Tuesday so he wasn't sharing a class with Draco, they walked to woodshop class, where Harry was attempting to create a turtle. 

"Looks more like a horse," Hermione mentioned as he pulled it out. 

"Horses don't have shells, Hermione." She waved her hand vaguely as if it would help her find the answer. 

"Kappa." He looked at her. 

"What?"

"It's folklore. Like a turtle that walks on two legs." His face must have been confused, because she walked to her desk, pulling out a book, turning to a page revealing... something. It was ugly looking and was similar to a turtle, if only in the skin and shell. It also had a sort of beak and looked gross. 

"My turtle is offended that you've made this connection."

At lunch, Cedric sat with them and talked to all of his friends. Ron looked at Harry, leaning over to whisper, "How did you make friends with an older student?" Harry just shrugged because he wasn't entirely sure. Cedric chuckled. Hermione was watching Cedric cautiously, not unlike someone who she wasn't sure if she could trust. She seemed to make the choice, smiling lightly. 

"Well, I'm Hermione." He shook her hand and she went back to the work that she was doing.

* * *

While waiting for his dad, Harry sat huddled into a ball. He was going to ask them to be here at exactly three when he got out so he didn't have to wait. Harry didn't look up when someone came over and sat next to him. "What do you want?"

"Harry," Draco started, "I just..." He grunted, burying his head in his hands. It was silent while he gathered himself. "I messed up. This whole day I've been messing up."

"Is that how you really think?"

"What?" Harry turned to Draco. 

"Do you really think that way about Sirius?" Draco sputtered as Harry stood. "He's family, Draco. He's my family and I'm his. Remus is family just as much as Sirius is. I'm not going to have anyone insult my family. If that's how you really think about them, then maybe we shouldn't be friends, because I'm not going to let anyone try to tear us apart. I've already lost my mother. I'm not losing Sirius, too."

"Harry-" Draco looked up unshed tears in his eyes. 

"Tell me the truth. Right now. Do you see them like that? Is that how you really think about Sirius and Remus?" Draco looked down at the ground. "If you're going to be like that, then maybe we really shouldn't be friends. I will not have anyone insulting my family and pretend to be my friend as well. There's nothing wrong with them. Maybe you're the one who's wrong?" He heard the car pulling up. "When you change your mind about how you see them being in love with each other, you can talk to me again, but until then, Draco Malfoy, I don't want to hear a word from you."

Harry climbed into the back of the car, not looking back as he wiped his face. It burned his nose and eye from the bruise, but he said nothing as the car pulled away. It was silent until they pulled into the driveway. Not sparing a second to talk to anyone, Harry retreated to his room, Padfoot at his tail. 

In bed, he curled up to Padfoot, burying his face into the soft fur. Harry turned his phone off when he heard it buzzing, not interested in talking to anyone. Padfoot just licked his face.

* * *

It was a long time before someone knocked on his door. Turning to the wall, he just mumbled, "Go away." He scoffed when he heard the door opening anyways. "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to treat someone who went out of his way to bring you food?" Sirius mentioned as he walked in. Harry turned to see the man carrying a plate of what smelled like grilled cheese sandwiches. "They're trying to teach Regulus how to cook. This was what was salvageable. Everything else was burnt pretty bad." Harry sat up, chuckling.

"How do you fail so badly at grilled cheese?"

"Well, you have to understand. This is the first time he's actually cooking." He took one and took a bite,  nose scrunching as he tasted the burnt cheese, but ate it anyway. "He tried."

"So are you and him better now?"

"No, but we're getting there." Sirius closed the door and walked over, sitting down. "You have to understand. We split on pretty bad terms."

"I heard. Well, I heard from Dad's point of view." Sirius pulled his legs up, crossing them under himself. He took a deep breath, feeding a bit of grilled cheese to Padfoot, who all but inhaled it, waiting for more. "Are you going to tell me something that's uncomfortable for you to talk about just so you can know why I was upset?"

"I mean, I hadn't planned on it. I was just going to ask and hope you would tell me."

"Draco and I aren't friends anymore." Sirius looked at him. 

"Did he sit with someone else at lunch or something?" Sirius joked.

"He said that you and Remus' relationship was wrong and that it was unnatural." Sirius pulled in a breath as Harry pulled his knees to his chest. "I told him that if he thought like that, we shouldn't be friends because you and Remus are too important to me to lose." He fed the remainder of his sandwich to Padfoot, who scarfed it down. 

"At least eat a whole one," Sirius mentioned, handing another to Harry, who took a reluctant bite. 

"I already lost Mom," Harry mentioned. "Dad isn't the most stable person. I love him and can't imagine what it'd be like without him, but he's not always there, you know?" He swallowed, taking another bite before continuing. "It's like he's more trying to be my friend than my father." Harry gave a dry chuckle. "Imagine being in a position where you're the more mature one in my life." Harry couldn't look up at Sirius as his eyes started to burn. "Can I stay home tomorrow?"

"We'll go ask James, okay?" Harry nodded, standing with Sirius, tossing the remainder of his sandwich to Padfoot. 

 


	18. Chapter 18

Harry woke up when it was well into daytime and looked at his bed. Padfoot was stretched across the foot and was breathing calmly. When Harry sat up, the dog looked up as well, rushing to his feet. He reached up, flopping the ears again, which seemed to be a relaxer for Harry. "C'mon. Let's go see what's for food." He thought for a moment. "I hope that it was Remus who cooked rather than Regulus." They walked out and down the stairs to see Remus, Sirius, and Regulus eating. He motioned towards the plate where there were french toast and pancakes made. 

Harry looked at it hesitantly as he sat down. "I made them," Remus mentioned.

"Oh, thank god." He gathered a plate while Sirius busted out laughing and Regulus looked almost hurt. 

"Don't feel bad. He doesn't eat anything I make either." Sirius explained behind a mouthful of pancake. 

"The last time you tried to make omelettes, you caught the stove on fire." At this, Regulus snorted, stuffing a whole piece of french toast into his mouth to silence himself. Harry couldn't believe how normal it all seemed. just days ago, they were at each other's throats, screaming at the top of their lungs. Now, they were acting like a real family.

"Where's dad?" Regulus froze halfway through shoving something into his mouth and Remus choked on what he was swallowing while Sirius helped him. 

"He went to the store," Remus explained, not looking at Harry.

"But we don't need anything. Do we?"

"I don't know," Sirius mentioned before stuffing his face with food again. Deciding that he wasn't going to ruin the mood, he just shrugged and ate, humming at the taste. 

"Izat vamilla?" He asked, mouth full of food. Sirius snorted, burying his face in his hand. Harry swallowed. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing."  Harry closed his eyes, taking a deep, calming breath.

"What is it?" Just as he asked, the front door burst open. 

"I got them!" Harry ran to the living room to see his father smiling brightly as he was carrying a giant pumpkin and a handful of papers.

"What..." Harry asked, looking at the pumpkin the size of his torso. 

"This is a pumpkin. But you already knew that. You're asking for the tickets, aren't you?"

"Well, how'd you get a pumpkin this big?" Harry asked, watching him shift to giant vegetable into Sirius' arms, who almost dropped it.

"That's a secret. Also, it may or may not come from a place that isn't in the city. We'll leave it as ambiguous as that. It's better for everyone. These, however-" James mentioned, thrusting the papers out into the air, "Are tickets to a haunted house."

"A haunted house?" Harry asked, taking one out of his hand to look at it. 

"A very exclusive, very horrifying haunted house that is scariest on Halloween night, which is when we have the tickets for." He grinned widely. 

Harry wanted to be happy, but- "What about me and not being able to touch people?"

"That's why you're gonna wear a long sleeve shirt and gloves." He mentioned as if proud of himself. James pulled them out of his pocket, shoving them towards Harry. They were thin and grey looking leather gloves that fit his hand like, well, a glove. 

"You've really thought of everything." Harry took a breath. "Speaking of Halloween," He started, causing James' eyebrow to raise. "There's a party apparently. Before you say no, it's hosted by the city and Hermione is going to be there. We talked about it."

"And you want to go?" Harry nodded. "When is it?"

"Friday the twenty-second. From five to nine."

"What are you planning to go as?"

"I haven't thought that far into it before. I was going to ask for permission first, then figure that out." James looked at Sirius, who was behind Harry. They had their silent conversation thing before James sighed. 

"Are you going to have a ride home?"

"You?" Harry offered.

"Fine." 

* * *

 

At the Halloween store, he was overwhelmed with the possibilities. He was with Hermione, who stayed home as well, looking for costumes together. "Should we get matching ones?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Do you want to?"

"Not really. They might confuse us as a couple and they lack originality."

"Then no, we won't." He looked over the selection, grinning at his friend. "If we actually did..."

"What are you thinking?" She asked, looking at the fake beard he was holding.

"Want to be a wizard?" She laughed out loud at him and he couldn't hold himself from laughing as well. 

"I'd rather be..." She grabbed the closest one, holding it to her chest. It was small and only reached halfway to her thigh and looked vaguely like a pixie. "Tinkerbell?" 

"If she was meant for people ten years older maybe," Harry mentioned, putting it back. He pulled down a pink piece of plastic and ears to match. "A dog?"

"Weirdest dog I've ever seen." He snorted, putting them back. "Oh, I just love this." She held up the female version of a pirate, fit with tight clothes and tall boots. "Yoho." 

He snorted, looking over again, picking up the pink plastic things. "I'll be a pig if you be the farmer." Hermione smiled.

"I could probably talk Ron into being a sheep." She hummed. "And talking Sheamus into being a cow wouldn't be that hard either." Harry threw his head back as he laughed. 

"You'd have your own animal farm." 

"Can I borrow your phone? I could probably call Ron's mom and have her help." Harry smirked, pulling it out of his pocket. While dialling the phone, she walked away, so Harry went back to looking at the costumes. Regulus walked over, as he was the one who had driven them here. Remus was around the store somewhere, but Harry could only guess. 

"Have you found something? Remus suggested I come check."

"Not even going to pretend it was your idea?"

"Why would I?"

"Remus and Sirius do. They pretend that it was their idea to keep their eyes on me."

"Why?"

"No clue. You get used to it." When Hermione walked over, she was smiling as she handed the phone back. 

"Guess who's one cow short of a farm?"

* * *

James was still the only one who drove him to therapy. When he walked in, she was sitting on her desk and motioned towards the chair. "I want James here, too," she mentioned, causing his dad to stop in his tracks. James looked from his son to the doctor before hesitantly walking over and sitting next to Harry. 

"I- I thought- I thought we were just gonna talk about it."

"I want to see what happens when someone touches you." Harry felt all of the blood leave his body. He was nowhere near ready for this.

"I could just tell you." He offered weakly.

"James, hold your hand up." His father looked at him apologetically as he shifted to sitting sideways with his legs crossed under him, holding his hand up. "Harry, I want you to touch his hand." He was holding his own hands together at his chest. "Go on." With a deep breath, as quick as he could, he reached out and tapped James' hand with his fingers and pulled them away. "Did you feel it, James?" Harry was pleading with his eyes at his father, but it went unseen as his father was looking at the doctor instead. 

"No." Internally cursing himself, his father, and his own weakness, Harry looked at the doctor as well.

"Just one touch, Harry." James held his hand up. Holding his breath, Harry looked away as he reached up and tapped his fingers against James' hand. Instantly, he had to pull away, feeling a wave of nausea. Not sure what was going to happen, Harry covered his mouth with his hands. "That was good!" She exclaimed. "Very good!"

He looked up at her, eyes narrowed. "How was that good?"

"You actually touched him. It may not have lasted long, but the fact that you actually touched him means you're able to work with this and you can actually strive to be better." Harry gave a weak smile. "Now, this next thing I want to try-" Harry groaned, "Is for James to touch you." He looked up at her in confusion.

"Won't it just be the same?"

"Not necessarily. It's a different type of stimuli, so you may react differently." Already exhausted with this, Harry put his hand up like his father had. It looked almost like he was telling his father to stop with his hand. When James' fingers touched his palm, he tensed and pulled away, covering his mouth as he gagged. Looking up at her, she had an inspired look in her eye. "Can we try one more thing, then we can go back to talking?"

"Do I have a choice?" She smiled kindly, then, making Harry sigh. "What is it?" She pulled out her purse, pulling off the bandana that was tied to it. Harry gave a confused look at his father. 

"I want you to wear this over your eyes." 

"What?" He all but screamed. She just kept calm with a soft smile.

"If I thought for a second that it wouldn't help, I would not have suggested it. With a sigh and it's going to help, it's going to help as a mantra going through his head, he wrapped it around his face, feeling particularly ridiculous. "If you would roll up your sleeve?" With another sigh, he pulled up the sleeve. Seeing nothing but darkness, he held his arm out, knowing that it's what she was going to tell him to do anyway. "Are you ready, Harry?"

"Yea." When he felt something touch him, the first thing he did was rip the bandana off, looking at his arm. He looked from his father's surprised face to Dr Pomfrey's satisfied smile. Even when his father left the room, he still couldn't process what had happened. 

"Do you know what this means?"

"It's all in my head and I'm imagining it?"

"No, Harry. It means we have a way to further help you. We have something that will assist you on your path to recovery."

"This is still all in my head. If I can be touched without seeing it and have no reaction, it's in my imagination."

"No, Harry. It is still you. It's your reaction. This fear isn't like an allergy." He looked at her expectantly, not entirely sure what she was saying. "Okay. When someone is allergic to something, it affects them whether they know it's there or not. If someone is allergic to peanuts and they didn't know that something uses peanut oil when they use it, they still react, right?" Harry nodded. "But, for instance, when someone stands up quickly and sits down, you watch it. You know it happened. When you close your eyes and they say they did the same thing, do you know if they've actually done it?" Harry shook his head. "It's like tricking your brain into thinking that someone didn't actually touch you if you didn't see it."

He nodded, finally understanding. "So because I didn't see it, my brain doesn't think I was actually touched?"

"Yes! Very good." He sat back, smiling. That means there was a chance to recover. He was given a moment to take in that information. He would be normal again. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can not tell you how long I've been wanting to write this chapter.

As a celebration of his being able to be touched by his dad, James threw Harry an impromptu party with cake and ice cream and even balloons that he bought. He even called and invited Hermione and Ron, much to Harry's embarrassment. Ron enjoyed the cake as Hermione congratulated him with a laugh in her voice. Everyone was able to take cake home and he was thankful that everyone was gone. Padfoot looked sad to see everyone go because he seemed to be getting the most attention, even more than Harry, even though the celebration was about him. Not that he actually minded, of course.

When he walked back to science a bit later than everyone else in the morning, He noticed that his seat, next to Draco, was empty. The blonde looked up expectantly, but Harry sat in the very front instead. The day ended up being a battle of Draco sitting where he usually did and him finding some other place to sit. Even after school, he told his dad to be there by the time school ended, so he just climbed into the car, not looking at Draco's face as they pulled away. That went on during Friday as well, Harry thankful for once that he had two classes of study hall so he could fill in everything he missed the day he was absent. He ignored and deleted every message that he tried to send, which ended up getting so annoying that he had to turn his phone off. Hermione ended up calling his home phone to talk to him. 

" _ You know you're going to have to talk to him eventually. _ " She mentioned when he answered why his phone was off.

"I know. I just hope it isn't soon."

" _ Didn't he ask you to go to the Monster Bash? _ "

"Well, I can't go with him, that's why I decided to go with you and Ron and Sheamus and everyone else you managed to talk into this plan."

" _ Who says I pulled anyone else into it? _ "

"Hermione." He said, dryly.

" _ Okay, so I may have gotten a few other people, but what's a farm without a sheepdog and a horse? And a rooster? and a duck?” _

"Who all do you have doing this?" 

" _ Ron's brothers George and Fred, and Neville because he thought the idea was cute and Dean Thomas wanted to because Sheamus is doing it _ ." Harry laughed out loud, head filled with images of what these people would look like in these costumes. There was a commotion down the stairs, so Harry had to hang up with Hermione.

"I'll talk later." He mentioned before hanging up, putting the phone on his desk. He opened his door, listening to Sirius talking to someone. 

"...the very second that he doesn't want you here, I will personally throw you out of this house." Harry looked down the stairs as Sirius came into view. Beside him, the familiar head of blonde hair appeared and Harry deflated. "He's here because he wants to talk to you."

"I have nothing to talk to him about." 

"Please, Harry," Draco begged. "I just want to talk." Rolling his eyes, Harry walked into his room hearing someone running up the stairs. He was leaning against the closest wall when Draco walked in, closing the door. 

"You have five minutes." Draco looked at him dumbly for a moment before clearing his throat. 

"I'm sorry." Harry rose his eyebrow. "I messed up. I made a mistake. I won't even say it wasn't my fault because it definitely was, but my aunt... She's not a really nice person. She's a bit of an ass, actually." He began to pace, looking at the floor as he did, gesturing wildly. "She just... she gets into my head so easily. She was visiting a few days ago and usually, my mom has me go somewhere when she comes, but it was out of nowhere. Like, she just decided to visit. There wasn't any time to go anywhere."

"Why does she keep this woman around if she's such a bad influence?"

"Because they're sisters. Mom doesn't want to break up the family." Harry stood straight as Draco walked over. "I... I made a mistake. Every time I'm around her, she just gets into my head and me just..."

"I can't just forgive you." He looked up, meeting Harry's eyes. "If you're so easily influenced by someone, maybe it'll happen again. Maybe next time, it won't be about who they love, but about how someone looks. I still remember a time where you thought that money mattered. Maybe next time, you'll be talking against my dad because he's not white, or Hermione because she's a girl. I can't have that in my life. I'm already going through so much." Harry mentioned, watching Draco step forward, getting into his personal space. "If you're going to hate my godfather for liking men-"

Harry yelped when Draco's hands closed in on his hips, pressing them into the wall. His eyes were pleading, looking down at Harry, practically begging for forgiveness. Harry thought for a moment that Draco was going to kiss him and he wasn't sure if he wanted him to get away or press closer. Instead, Draco just put his head on the wall next to Harry, his breath fanning over his shoulder making goose bumps form all over. When he slotted his leg between Draco's and the blonde let out a noise as his fingers tightened on Harry's hips, he felt a tingling between his legs that wasn't entirely unpleasant. 

With his head resting on Harry's shoulder, Draco was breathing heavily as they stood there. He didn't understand what was going on, but Harry found that he liked the noises that came out of Draco. Harry knew about kissing, he'd watched both sets of parents do it plenty of times, and had some idea of what went on between two people behind closed doors, but this was far beyond his scope of knowledge. Nothing was making sense. First, Draco was saying how two guys being together was weird and wrong, now he's like this with Harry?

At a knock on the door, Draco pulled away, adjusting his clothes as it opened. Harry couldn't bring himself to move as Sirius looked around. "Everything went from yelling to quiet so I wanted to make sure everything was okay." Harry nodded, his head feeling fuzzy. 

"He..." Draco cleared his throat, swallowing. "He didn't forgive me immediately, but I'm going t-to work on it. Maybe I'll get his forgiveness eventually." Draco walked away, keeping his eyes everywhere but Harry. Sirius stayed, looking from the retreating form of Draco to Harry, who was still on the wall. Did he know what had happened? Harry couldn't know how because he didn't even know what happened. 

"You okay?" Harry nodded, leaning on his knees to catch his breath. When he was finally alone, Harry walked to the bathroom on shaky legs. When his thighs rubbed together, the tingling came back. In the mirror, his face was slightly pink and warm to the touch. To calm himself, Harry decided to take a cold shower.

_ "You can do it." He heard as he placed his hands on Draco's chest. He could feel the warmth radiating through his palms on Harry's hips as his fingers tightened. When Harry shifted his hips, he pressed his eyes closed, all but savouring the feeling. Sounds were coming out of him that he'd never made before, his hips stuttering at the feeling deep in his belly. "Harry, look at me." When he didn't open his eyes, Draco sat up, stopping him from moving.  _

_ He opened them to see Draco's eyes flicking from his own eyes to his lips. A hand carded through his hair while the other held his chin. Draco's eyes kept flicking back and forth as he came closer. His breath ghosted over Harry's skin- _

"-HARRY!" His eyes snapped open and he sat straight up, nearly knocking heads with his godfather in the process. He looked around, seeing his room and Padfoot looking on curiously from the floor before looking at Sirius. "You were having a bad dream." Harry wiped his forehead, feeling how sweaty it was. 

"W-was I?"

"I mean, you were groaning and writhing around, so it was a safe assumption. I was just passing and I opened the door to check on you and you were like that." He couldn't bring himself to look Sirius in the eye. If Sirius knew what he was actually dreaming about- god, he would die of embarrassment. 

"Yea. Yea, sorry." He cleared his throat looking at Sirius' cheekbone. It was close enough to his eyes where it would seem like he was looking, but not his actual eyes. raking his fingers through his hair, Harry laid back down, taking steadying breaths. When he was alone, Harry didn't dare move for at least five minutes. Every time he would think about that dream, a new wave of tingles would pass him and he ended up pressing his legs together tightly. That didn't seem to help at all and Harry groaned.

* * *

 

"You actually had a dream like that?" Hermione asked. They had made their way to the mall and were sitting in the food court. Harry was leaning onto his hands as Hermione sat across from him. It was the first time that Harry was allowed to go out alone and he felt a sense of freedom that he didn't realize he was missing. Harry groaned into his hands. 

"Honestly it's not even the first time, but before this whole thing started, I never had anything like that happen." She thought for a moment, drinking from her straw noisily. 

"Maybe you like him?" Harry looked up at her, disbelieving. 

"I do not like him. He's rude and annoying and homophobic and he doesn't know about me. I can only imagine how well that will go."

"I don't know." She looked around, lowering her voice. "Maybe he's just scared."

"Why would being scared cause you to be rude?" He asked, sceptical.

"Because if his aunt is such a bad person and she fills his head with these thoughts, maybe he likes you too, but he's too scared of her to come out about it."

"But she's his family. Wouldn't she love him regardless?"

"Not everyone has the accepting family that you do. He was raised to different standards than you." 

"But they're family."

"That doesn't always matter, Harry." Harry thought about that for a long time. Is he afraid to come out because of his family? What was the worst that could happen? 

"Okay, so let's say he does like me and is only saying those things to cover himself. He's still rude to you about being less than rich."

"Again, Harry. These were the standards he was raised with. He might not think it's wrong until someone tells him otherwise. And since his family is one of the richest in town, no one is really going to tell him otherwise." Harry let his head fall to the table with a loud thunk. 

"Why couldn't I have a crush on someone simpler?"

"You think this is a crush?" He raised his head so fast that his neck hurt.

"What, are you thinking I'm in love with him or something? Hermione, I'm fifteen. I don't even know have a plan for the future, let alone have the time or maturity to be in love with someone."

"Well, maybe not love, but this seems stronger than just a crush, you know? A crush would have gone away when he started to be a dick." Harry let his head fall again. Hermione was too wise for her own good. "You might actually be able to do it, you know?" He looked at her to see her stirring her drink with the straw. "I mean, your dad was able to touch your arm, right? With the blindfold?"

"There's a large difference between his touching my arm and me doing  _ that _ with another person."

"You could maybe wear the blindfold. Or even just work your way up to it."

"Yea," He mentioned dryly, "then he puts a hand down my pants. 'Oh, isn't something supposed to be here?' Then next thing I know, everyone is asking me what's in my pants and what my original name was and I have to change schools."

"You're being dramatic. I don't think everyone would ask that. Some people are okay with it."

"Then I'll get those fetish people that think it's hot to be with someone like me. No thanks." She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else.


	20. Chapter 20

It was around noon on Sunday when James spontaneously decided that everyone should go for a walk. The city was dressed up for Halloween and it looked like they didn't do things halfway. There were cutouts of clowns and ghosts at every doorway and everything was designed in orange and black. fake bats and spiders were dangling off of every surface available and people were even dressing up. Stopping to buy candy apples- Remus declined because he isn't a fan of caramel- they made their way through town to look at everything. 

Harry noticed that Remus and Sirius were holding hands tighter than usual. He supposed they might be cold, but it felt different than that. They were bumping shoulders every few steps and never parted hands. Sirius whispered something into Remus' ear and the other snorted, then Remus would respond. 

"I personally think it's gross." He heard to his left. He looked up to see Regulus looking at the couple. "Flaunting their relationship? Being happy? Disgusting." Harry snorted. 

"Haven't you ever been in a relationship?"

"No. Not really. If I was with anyone, it was always for appearances."

"So you've never loved anyone?" Harry didn't miss the way Regulus' eyes flicked up, but he kept that to himself.

"I used to think I could be in a relationship like that." He nodded to Remus and Sirius, "But I also knew that I cared too much what people thought. Everything I did was sanctioned by my mother. If she didn't approve, I wouldn't do it. I was said to be the golden child because I was opposite of Sirius."

"That sounds very lonely." He looked at Harry.

"Really?"

"I mean, if you liked someone, but your mom didn't, you couldn't be happy." He smiled sadly. 

"Yea." Harry was silent for a moment. 

"Was there anyone you liked?" Regulus looked at him for a moment, then looked up. Harry followed his eyes, noticing that he was watching James. He looked back at Regulus, who was already looking away, looking at a store. 

"I'm not sure, honestly."

"Are we going to need to decorate?" Sirius asked, looking at everyone. "I'm pretty sure that the store has those weird jelly window clingy things that Harry ends up destroying every year." Harry puffed up at the accusation.

"To be fair, they do tear rather easily." Remus defended.

"What about when they're already on the window? Is it still tearing easily, or him tearing them apart?"

"What's with the sudden attack on my character?" Harry asked. "So what if they tear easily. I can't help it."

"But you can leave them alone, which you never do."

"Go get your dumb window jellies and leave me out of it." 

When they made it back home after buying almost twenty dollars worth of Halloween window clings, Harry instantly changed into warm, soft clothes. Wearing a long sleeve shirt and fluffy sleep pants, Harry walked downstairs to see Sirius laying on Remus' shoulder on the couch. Walking over, Harry sat in the closest chair. He thought back to what Regulus said. Did he like James? Was that why he looked up at him? That must be a very lonely life, only dating who your mother approved of.

Harry turned to what they were listening to on the TV. It was a Halloween movie that he caught right in the middle so he couldn't keep much interest. Standing and walking to the kitchen, he noticed that Regulus and James were standing close, talking in low voices. When Harry walked in, James straightened and looked at his son. James was already playing with one of the cling jellies that was shaped like a skull and Harry wished for a moment that Sirius was in here to see so he would get off Harry's back about it.

"Keep talking. I know I'm not in your secret adult club, but I can at least get a part of the info. Just pretend that you think I can't here and talk." James snorted, walking over and putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. 

"We were talking about giving you up for adoption, but he thought it was a bad idea. No one else would want you. Inevitably, we had to keep you."

"I'm going to assume you're joking because my mentality and my self-confidence aren't as strong as I pretend it is." Harry walked forward, opening the fridge and pulling out an energy bar and a bottle of orange juice. "I'll be in my room when you make the final decision.

* * *

Draco sat next to Harry at breakfast and remained stone-faced for a total of five seconds before Harry turned his head and Draco turned a bright pink. Harry was far too tired to think about the issue he was having. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's-" Draco choked up for a moment, ducking his head. "Is that just a normal Friday for you?"

"No, but I don't turn red whenever I think about it." Harry could feel the heat radiating from Draco. Or that may have been his imagination.

"I can't help that I'm so pale. If I wasn't so pale, I probably wouldn't be so red."

"Or, you're embarrassed."

"No! I-" He cut himself off when Hermione sat down with a sigh. She looked up at them and reached up, running a hand through her hair. 

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked. Harry knew that Hermione knew what she had interrupted.

"N-no," Draco said, standing abruptly. "I'll see you... later... in class..." He shook his head as he walked away, turning back for a moment to look at Harry, who smiled.

"Well, that was awkward," Hermione mentioned as Harry raked his hands through unruly hair. 

"You think? I'm pretty sure that's how one should react to everything that happened." She snorted. They talked for a while until Ron came, sitting down almost angrily. "What's the matter?" He was wearing a hat down to his ears and was frowning as he did.

"Nothing."

"Obviously not. I mean you're-" Ron reached up and tore the hat off causing Hermione to gasp. Where his hair was normally red, it was almost white with spots of a light orange colour. "What happened?"

"Fred and George think they're hilarious." Ron looked at the door so everyone else did too. The twins and Percy were all sporting the same exact hair colour, except the twins' hair was more patchy.

"What did they do?"

"Decided to try chemistry. They put something in the shampoo and everyone who used it is now sporting Malfoy coloured hair." He glared at the natural blonde, who was looking at them all with wide, disbelieving eyes. "With patches of Weasley, of course. Mom is taking us into a friend of hers after school to see what she can do."

"I am so sorry." Ron shrugged.

"Always wondered what I'd be like to have a different hair colour. I just hoped it was darker. And controlled instead of a prank. 

"I mean, it is a good look on you." Harry offered, to which Ron started to turn pink again. 

In science, Slughorn decided that since he was going to be teaching, he was going to be teaching his own way. Instead of working on human anatomy like they were, they were going to study the basics of biology. "I want you to pick an animal. The best way to learn about something is to study it, so pick an animal that you like. You're going to be making a presentation talking about this animal to show what you've learned. Make it good. You'll be graded on it. Pick a partner."

Harry was going to ask Hermione, but he felt someone touch his shoulder. He looked back to see Draco not looking at his face. He mumbled something, so Harry had to lean forward to hear him better. "What?"

"Wanna be partners?" Harry smiled kindly, looking for Hermione, noticing her next to Pansy, talking animatedly. 

"Sure."

"G-great. Great!" He scooted closer, in his chair. "So, we're going to need the perfect animal, right?"

"Yea."

"So, I- I have a library at my house. So, like, we could find a book. Or- or we could go to the regular library."

"Draco, are you forgetting that I have a library in my basement?" He deflated for a moment, before brightening up again. 

"Right. Sorry, slipped my mind." He laughed, but Harry could tell it was fake. With a sigh, Harry looked at the blonde. 

"We could check your house first. If we don't find anything, we'll check mine. Remus is really into reading all kinds of things." Draco nodded, showing off a dazzling smile.

* * *

 

"So a date." Hermione mentioned, before shoving food into her mouth. Harry had explained the exchange wondering why Draco looked so down. 

"No? No. We're just going to be looking for that animal."

"It doesn't take rocket science to open a book and pick an animal. He wants to be alone with you."

"If he did, he wouldn't have suggested a public library."

"As an afterthought, Harry. He's being respectful, I guess. Not that it's actually in character." She snipped, looking over Sheamus' shoulder to see the person in question. He was sitting a few tables over with his friends.

"Well, then it's not really a date. He would outright ask, wouldn't he?"

"If he's as scared about it as you make him sound, I don't think so."

"Scared of what?" Hermione looked at him. She leaned closer.

"Maybe he likes guys as well, but with his aunt being as mean as she sounds, he doesn't feel safe just asking."

"If he liked guys, he wouldn't have said anything about Remus and Sirius."

"Maybe it was just a cover for him actually liking you."

"Hermione, we're just friends."

"For now." Harry rolled his eyes, letting his head fall on the table. He didn't want to- no, he didn't have time to think about dating anyone, cute blonde or otherwise. He couldn't touch them and was afraid to get close to people for fear that they'll reject him when they find out about him, so he didn't want to waste the time. He needed to focus on academics more than anything. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do in the future, but he wanted his options open. "Plenty of people date in high school, Harry. You act like it's the same thing as getting married."

He lifted his head, looking at her. "I don't even hug my father. How am I going to do romantic things with a person who could spout off insensitivities at any moment?"

"Like I said, Harry, I think it's just a cover. He's as bent as you are, but he can't exactly express it. 

* * *

The library seemed too quiet without Remus there. Not that he made any noise since it was, in fact, a library, but his presence seemed to fill the room. Almost like he provided white noise. Now, he was looking for a job because he felt like a freeloader just sitting around. Harry pulled out a book, looking at the title.  _ Semi-aquatic life of a Platypus _ . "Why does he even have this book?" Harry asked, looking through the pictures on the inside. It was weird looking but in an almost adorable way. "Wanna do Platypus?"

Draco looked over his shoulder, looking at the pictures. "It's like a beaver and a duck mated and the ugliest babies escaped and made more." Harry laughed out loud. 

"It looks like it has to tell others that it's not a mix of the two, but it's own species."

"It got the short side of the evolution stick, didn't it?" 

"I mean, at least it's not an echidna." Draco's brows furrowed as he looked down at Harry. 

"What's an echidna?" Harry looked over the books, pulling out an encyclopedia of animals. He searched out the echidna, showing the book to Draco, who's eyebrows creased as he looked at it. His shoulders were moving and Harry realized that Draco was trying not to laugh. 

"You can laugh, it's okay." Sirius came downstairs to see them laughing so much that they couldn't stand straight. Harry felt his eyes on him and looked up to see Sirius with a sombre kind of look. 

"Your mother is here." He told Draco who nodded. 

"So platypus?"

"Or echidna. We'll talk about it later." He began to walk up the stairs, past Sirius, who was staying there. "So why is she coming to get you so early? There's still plenty of hours of daylight left."

"I have this thing that my father wants me to do. Before you ask, I don't even know what it is. They wouldn't tell me."

"Will you tell me after?"

"Sure." He patted Harry's back as he walked out of the door. Harry watched the door for a long time.

"You really like him, don't you?" Harry shouted as he jumped, turning around to see Sirius standing against the wall.

"No!" He accidentally yelled. Harry cleared his throat, looking at the wall behind Sirius. "No. I don't." 

"Sure kid. Whatever you say." Sirius began to walk away but turned around again. "Are you already wrecking the window cling things? I found a skeleton in the trash."

"That was Dad. He was playing with it while he and Regulus were talking." Sirius paused, his face pinching up. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at Harry. 

"James was talking to Regulus?" Harry nodded, curious as to why that was something so strange to Sirius. The man walked away, leaving Harry to walk to his room in confusion.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays to all who celebrate!  
> In this chapter is where the tag for the mention of child abuse comes in, so that's just a warning. But don't worry. It's not graphic and storywise, it doesn't go on for very long.

The dance came up quicker than Harry could keep up with and he found himself in front of a mirror wearing a pink skirt and pink pants that he had gotten from the Haloween store and a headband with pig ears attached and a pig shout that was attached to his face by an elastic string. He was also wearing make-up per Hermione's suggestion. Pink eyeliner and white eyeshadow that stood out against his face. "I feel ridiculous."

"You look great." She mentioned from the bathroom where she was changing. 

"You haven't even seen me."

"You make everything look good. There's literally no way you could look bad." Harry just rolled his eyes. 

"Are you sure that everyone else is doing this?"

"I know for a fact that Ron, Fred, and George are. I know for a fact that Dean is. We talked about it. He's trying to make sure that Sheamus is. Neville isn't one hundred percent sure he's able to go, but if he can, he will. Also, Ron and Sheamus switched so Ron is the cow and Sheamus is the sheep."

"Why?"

"Because Dean is the sheepdog and it's what they wanted. George is the Rooster, Fred is the duck and if Neville comes, he's going to be the horse." 

"Okay." She walked out, looking cute. She had overalls and a flannel shirt and on her head was a straw hat. She had drawn on freckles over her own making them stand out more. She was also wearing boots. 

"I heard that Draco is going with Pansy."

"Okay?" He asked. He was entitled to his own friends. 

"They have a couples costume." He tensed as he looked at her. 

"So?" He tried for nonchalance, but it didn't seem to be working. She handed him a handful of tissues. "What's this for?"

"Sweat makes makeup run. It's so you can clean if you need to." She mentioned. 

"So? How does it look?" 

"Like a farmer."

"That's what I was going for." He laughed as they walked out of his room, only for a bright light to blind them. 

"Ah!" He exclaimed, covering his eyes a bit too late. There were spots in his vision where he couldn't see. 

"Sorry. It was the only way I knew I could get a picture." James mentioned. 

"You couldn't just ask instead of blinding me?" James just chuckled. 

"I figured you'd say no." Harry huffed for a moment. 

"I kind of want to now." 

"C'mon Harry," Hermione mentioned, nudging him. He sighed, but ultimately gave up and stood there while James took pictures. 

"Are we done now?" He asked, feeling a bit self-conscious. 

"Yea, grumpy pants." Harry groaned as Hermione chuckled. They filed into the car and James sat in the front. As he pulled away, he began to speak. "So I'll be there at nine, but if you want me to come earlier, just call me." He looked at Harry in the rear-view mirror.

"Keep watching the road." Harry snapped, so his eyes shot to the road. 

"Okay, well, Remus can't make the haunted house because the job he got so there's an extra ticket." Harry felt a bit sad, but it was what Remus wanted. 

"Haunted house?" Hermione asked, looking at Harry.

"It's a thing that's in the next state. They prepare for this haunted house all year and it's super scary and it's the scariest during Halloween night. That's when we got the tickets." She nodded along. "I've wanted to go to a haunted house since I was a child, but I was never old enough aside from the childish ones." He looked up at his father. "So what do we do about the last ticket?"

"You could invite a friend." He offered. He looked in the rearview mirror and Harry scowled at him until he looked straight again. Harry looked at Hermione, but she shook her head. 

"I already promised my mom that I'd help with trick or treaters." He nodded. 

"Good luck." He mumbled. When they pulled up to the building that was holding this party, he could already hear the music. "Do we have to do this?" He asked, thinking about how suffocating it's going to be. "It's not too late."

"C'mon, Harry. I'm only here because you are." He sighed and climbed out of the car. 

"Remember. Nine." He nodded, walking with Hermione to the front door. A woman was sitting in a witch costume from Wizard of Oz. 

"Would you like to put your name in the costume contest drawing?" She asked when they walked up. "There are individual costumes, couples costumes, and group costumes." He looked at Hermione. She shrugged. 

"Sure." Taking a pen and piece of paper, she wrote something down. "For the group..." She looked at Harry for a moment before writing another one down. "And for couples." His eyes widened as she pulled him by his shirt into the building. He couldn't pay much attention to her, though, because he was looking at the walls of the building. It was covered from floor to ceiling in decorations from bats to ghosts, and witches on broomsticks. Balloons hung from the ceiling in both orange and black. people in costumes were walking around with boxes like in sports games. A person dressed as a bat walked up. 

"Something to drink?" He bought and orange juice for himself and a citrus soda for Hermione. "There's also food going around and you'll be asked to make sure every piece of garbage gets to a trashcan." Harry nodded, not intent on littering. They walked further in to see that there were already plenty of people. 

"Are we late?"

"No, these people are just early." He hummed as they walked through the crowd to the other end of the room. 

"So what do people normally do at these things?" She looked at him, disbelieving. "What? This is the first time I'm coming to one of these."

"Well, you just dance. Hang out with people. compliment people's costumes." He looked into the crowd, watching people dance and talk. He pointed to a person in the group. 

"Is that Beetlejuice?" He asked about the person in a black and white suit with frizzy white hair. 

"Maybe an electrocuted person." He chuckled, taking a drink, humming at the taste. "You like orange juice?" 

"Juice in general." She nodded, looking back into the crowd. 

"Ooh, I see Wonder Woman." He looked around and noticed a girl dressed in a one piece in the design of Wonder Woman with a crown to match. 

"Isn't it cold?" Hermione shrugged. 

"Some people don't feel cold I guess." She looked at Harry with an inspired look in her eye. "Wanna play iSpy? Halloween edition?" He smiled. "I point out a feature of someone's costume and you have to figure out who I'm talking about. You get three guesses."

"You go first."

She looked around the room, eyes flicking to each person. "I spy... someone green." He looked into the dancing bunch of people. Colors were a bit drowned out by the colour of the lights. The first time he saw something green, he pointed. 

"The Hulk?" She laughed.

"Try again." He looked around again, looking for any variant of the colour. 

"Robin Hood?"

"Which one?" He looked again. There were three people dressed similarly in the costume. One girl, a boy with blonde hair, and a boy with black hair. He hummed. 

"Black hair." She grinned, shaking her head. "Okay... Is it a Robin Hood at all?"

"Yes, but you have to guess which one." He sighed, looking at the two that remained. 

"The girl?" He made the sound like a buzzer and he groaned. "Of course it was the blonde." She laughed out loud. 

"Your turn." Harry nodded and looked at the crowd. He noticed a girl in a brown dress. The top was white fabric with a large brown bow while the bottom was layers of brown that looked like a corset almost. On the right side at the bottom was three gears that were connected. She was wearing a top hat with a pair of goggles that looked the same as her dress. Her legs were covered in tights that looked like gears and wires. She was wearing boots which were large heels that looked more metal than anything. Her face was made up pretty and intricately looking like there was a piece chipped away and there were wires underneath. 

"Wow." He mumbled, and  Hermione looked up at him. 

"Harry?" He looked at her, then realized that he had been staring at that girl.

"Right. Sorry. I spy someone... brown." She looked at the crowd. 

"Is it a tree?" He snorted, shaking his head, watching her look back at the people. "What about- oh." He followed her line of sight, leading to the door where Draco was walking in with who Harry assumed was Pansy. She was wearing a long black dress that was only showing the top of her chest and her hands. It was flared at the bottom and the sleeves. Her hair was longer and Harry assumed that extensions were in place. Draco was in a dark grey suit with a white undershirt and a bow tie. His hair was slicked back and Harry couldn't pull his eyes away. He noticed how the suit was gracing his body, hugging his body in all the right places. 

A hand swung back and forth in his vision and he looked at Hermione. "Earth to Harry." 

"Sorry." He cleared his throat, trying not to let his eyes flick back to the opening of the room. "What was that?" 

"I've said your name three times." He felt his face go warm. "Can we keep playing the game, or are you  gonna go back to eyeing Draco Malfoy?"

"Sorry. Yea. Let's play. Have you made your second guess?"

"I'm guessing the bear?" He shook his head again, grinning as she stomped her foot. "Give me a hint. Everyone is wearing brown."

"A girl. Blonde. Dancing with herself." She looked around again, her eyes widening. 

"Gears and wires?" Harry grinned. "That's a very intricate costume. I've never seen her before." 

"Well, the whole town can come here. She could be an adult."

"No, I don't think so. She's younger, I think. Hey, Ron is here." Harry looked at the door, seeing Ron and his brothers walking in. Hermione waved her arms wildly, catching Ron's attention. His hair was back to red, a bit darker than usual. Fred and George had decided that only one of them would go back to red, the other was pure white, the spots of light orange taken out. They all walked over, Fred being the red-haired one, wearing the duck costume. That was how he distinguished them. Fred was red-haired. 

"Is it, as I hear, you've signed us up for the group contest?" Fred asked, making Hermione nod. "Good show." He mentioned, leaning onto the wall next to her. On her other side, George did the same. She chuckled. "And you and Harry signed up for the couples' costumes?" She grinned. 

"It seemed like a good idea." Harry knew better. She was doing it for him because of Draco. She didn't say that, but he knew. 

"I'm going to get something else to drink," Harry mentioned, holding up his empty bottle. "Anyone want anything?"

"We couldn't ask that of you, Harry," Ron said, to which Harry shrugged. 

"I have enough money. It's the least I could do since you guys were dragged into this." Getting their drinks- two sodas, one kool-aid pouch, another soda for Hermione, and another orange juice for him- he walked around looking for the lady. Looking over the crowd for a bat-shaped woman, he nearly knocked into someone. "Hell." He snapped, righting himself. "Sorry." He turned to them, seeing Pansy. "Oh. Sorry." He cleared his throat. "I like your costume. Addams family?" 

She nodded. "It was Draco's idea. He had different plans for coming with you, but you two fought, so he had to change his plans." Harry felt his eyes widening. She wasn't exactly saying  _ this is your fault _ but he could hear it in undertones. 

"Sorry... he-"

"Insulted your family. I've heard it before." Hary reeled back. "I'm the person he talks to about his day. I quote from him, 'I fucked up, Pans. I really fucked up.' Right behind a bunch of times calling himself an idiot for saying anything." Harry nodded, wanting to be anywhere but here. Particularly at home, comfortable and warm. "Look, Harry." She mentioned. "His father... he’s... not the nicest person."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't like to talk about it. The man is very old-fashioned. His father follows the rules set by people that have been dead for more than one hundred years. He's dealing with a lot at home. Just cut him some slack." He nodded, turning to walk away, but her hand touched his shoulder. "Can you answer something for me?"

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes were pleading and that was the only sign of emotion on her face. "Sure."

"If... if it came down to it, would you take him in?" He felt his chest tightening. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Just answer the question." she snipped.

"I don't understand the question."

"If he asked, would you let him live with you for a while?" He thought for a moment.  What would be happening if he needed to come to Harry's house? If it was that bad, he was needed, wasn't he? Harry nodded. 

"If he needed it, I wouldn't have a problem. I think Dad would be okay with it." She nodded and all of the emotions he thought he saw disappeared. 

"Happy Halloween." More than a little confused, he walked away. Getting the drinks and handing them out- one soda to Fred, the drink pouch to George, Ron with the other soda, Hermione getting hers and Harry getting his- he leaned against the wall with Hermione. 

"You'll never guess what just happened." He told her.

* * *

 

He ended up being pulled to the centre of the room by Hermione and shuffling awkwardly. it was mostly joking with them as they danced to the song from Nightmare Before Christmas. Harry rolled his eyes. 

Someone touched his shoulder and he jumped, turning quickly, nearly knocking into Hermione. Draco looked at her apologetically. She tapped his shoulder. "I'm gonna go make sure that Ron isn't left out." He watched her walk away. Harry turned to Draco, who showed Harry that he was wearing gloves. They were soft looking and black, fitting to his hands. 

"Care to dance?"

"I don't know how. I just look like a fish." Draco laughed and Harry felt his chest tighten. 

"Then we'll look like fish together because I can ballroom dance and that's it." Harry's might filled with wonderful pictures of Draco dancing around a ballroom like he'd seen in the movies. He chuckled. Looking up at Draco, he put his hand out Draco taking it. "Little pig?" He asked, looking between the ears on Harry's head to his very pink shoes. They were bought last, only a few days ago. 

"We're all part of a farm. Hermione is the farmer. I'm the pig." Amusement crossed his face. "This is the first time I'm ever doing this, so it was going to be cheap." He nodded along. After a while, Harry started to get hot. He was wearing his binder and the extra heat was suffocating him. From behind, Harry was pushed into Draco, who caught him. 

"S-sorry." His chest was getting too tight. "I'm..." His vision was beginning to sway. He needed to get outside. "I-" why was it so hard to breath? "I need-" Before he realized what was happening, he was being pulled out of the building. When the cold air hit his face, he sighed with relief. Leaning against the wall, he took a few steady breaths before looking up at Draco. "Th..." He trailed off, noticing in the light something on Draco's face. He stood straight, looking closer. Draco's chin was covered in a sort of powdery looking substance. "Are you wearing makeup?" Draco tensed, stepping away. "No, wait. I'm not judging." He mentioned, motioning to his own face. "But... why only in that one spot?" He pulled a tissue out of his pocket. 

"Harry, you can't touch-"

"It's okay. I Won't touch your skin." 

"What are you going to do?" He looked at his hand. 

"Blend it in a bit?" He didn't understand why Draco was acting so strange. "Just come here." He held Draco's shoulder, but when he touched it, Draco hissed. "What-" Squinting in the light, he noticed a particularly purple colour on his cheek. "Is that a bruise?" He pulled away from Harry entirely, not saying a word as he walked back inside, leaving Harry there. He looked at the tissue, seeing the barely-there powder. He was covering a bruise. 

_ If it came down to it, would you take him in? _ Pansy asked.  _ His father... he’s... not the nicest person _ . Harry stayed there for longer than he cared to actually count. Was Draco's family hurting him?

When Harry walked back in, he found Hermione. They talked until someone came up on the stage. She explained that she was going to say the results of the costume contest. For the individual costumes, the "Gears and Wires" girl won. In second and third place, a man dressed as Aragorn and a person dressed as Green Lantern. For the group, the people dressed as Power Rangers won, followed by a group of people all dressed as Robin Hood- "huh, they were all together."- and people dressed as the cast of Ghost Busters. 

For the couples' costumes, Mario and Peach were in third. In second, Superman and Loius Lane. "And in First place for the couples costumes is," She opened the envelope. "Gomez and Morticia Addams!" Harry clapped as Draco and Pansy walked up on stage. When Draco was looking through the crowd, he must have seen Harry, so he pushed on a smile as he clapped. When he looked away, Harry's face fell. He was not in a good mood anymore.

* * *

 

When they were picked up, both Hermione and Harry were subdued. "Did you have fun?" James asked. "Harry?" He looked up, taking notice that James was waiting for an answer. 

"Yea. Yea, sorry. It was great." Seeing how upset that Hermione was, he almost regretted telling her what he saw. The ride was sombre and James didn't even try to change it. Choosing his battles Harry figured. They walked up to his room, Hermione walking to the bathroom to pull on the pyjamas she brought. Harry was next to use the bathroom, pulling his binder off and getting into the biggest shirt he owned, and pulling on sleep pants. using the makeup wipes that Hermione suggest her buy, Harry wiped his face the best he could. His eyes burned a bit, but all the same. 

When he walked out, she looked up apologetically. Harry sat next to her. "Maybe it's not... what we think it is?"

"Right, right." Except Harry knew better. 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the beginning of this chapter was hard to write because it's based on some things that I'd heard in person, but I tried to make up for it by adding more stuff at the end.

At school on Monday, Harry walked right to Draco's table during lunch. He tried to keep his eyes away from where the bruise was as he looked at Draco, slapping the ticket down. "Do you want to go to a haunted house?" He asked. Draco looked at the ticket then at Harry. "Dad bought a ticket for everyone, but Remus can't go. They were expensive so I don't want to waste the ticket. Would you like to?"

"When?"

"Halloween night." Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could swear he saw Pansy grinning and nodding, but he kept his eyes on Draco watching him. He wasn't outright showing any emotions, but his eyes were changing, his lips twitched as if he was going to smile. 

"I'll let you know." Harry nodded, turning to walk away. "Harry?" He heard, but it sounded rushed and breathless. He turned back. "Would you like to sit with us?" He looked at Hermione, who was watching. She nodded, so Harry sat down. 

"Did you need permission from your girlfriend?" Someone across the table asked. He was larger and most definitely in an upper class. A pale man with dark hair. Next to him, a girl in possibly the same grade leading over. 

"You've only known her for what? Two months? Have you two fucked yet?" Harry felt his face going cold. "Well of course not, you don't touch people." 

"Why is that?" The boy said. "Is it a middle eastern thing, or just specific to you?" He felt his fingers flexing with anger that he was, again, finding it hard to control. 

"Ooh, look he's getting mad. Are you gonna be a terrorist?" That was the last straw and Harry stood abruptly. Slamming his hands on the table, he shut up the entire table. 

"Asian." Draco was the one that responded.

"What?"

"Desi people- people from India. They are- I am Asian. Pick up a book once in a while and maybe you won't be such a witless neanderthal. No, Haphephobia is not something you can stereotype. My problems with touching people are directly related to childhood trauma that I have to live through every single day. I have to wake up and realize that I can't hug my friends or have a partner or touch anyone." He looked directly at the girl. "And no. We aren't dating. She's my best friend and I'd rather have someone with a dick by my side more than anything. I could come for you for that, couldn't I? After all, your dick is showing all over." He looked at Draco, whose face was fearful as he looked at the two older students. "If you'll excuse me, it started to smell like garbage in this direction-" He motioned to the older students, "So I'm gonna go back to my friends. Excuse me, and fuck both of you." 

He shoved the chair roughly against the table and walked across the room to sit by Hermione. No one said anything for a long time. "That was eventful." She mumbled as he had his head down. 

He had cooking with Hermione the next period and halfway through, someone walked in. "Harry Potter?" He looked up to see the secretary. 

"I knew this would happen." He mentioned, picking up his things. "If I don't come back, call me when you get home." Hermione nodded. 

"I will. Good luck." He walked with her out of the room and through the hallway. 

"Am I in trouble?" He asked. She pursed her lips together. 

"That all depends on the outcome of this meeting." Harry nodded. He was walked to the office and back to the principle's office, where the two students were, along with who he assumed her their parents, and James and Sirius. 

"Ah. The young Mr Potter. Sit." He sat in the chair between James and Sirius, feeling particularly small. "I suppose you're wondering why we called this meeting." Mr Dumbledore mentioned, though he wasn't sure if it was to him, or his father and godfather. 

The pinch-faced woman on the other side of the room made a huffing noise. "Why are there two men here? Isn't this supposed to be for parents?"

"Mrs Flint. Please."

"They're not... like him, are they?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius snapped, but Harry grabbed his sleeve, pleading. 

"James and Sirius are as much an advocate for Harry as you and your husband are to Mr Flint." the principal cleared his throat. "We are here because of some things that were said. Most notably, Harry saying that he was a-" he referred to the paper, "Witless neanterthal, and called her a dick before saying they smelled like garbage." Harry rolled his eyes, sinking further into the chair. Why did this always happen to him? "Something to say, Harry?"

"For the second time, those are taken out of context." He mentioned.

"Care to enlighten us?" James and Sirius were watching him and Harry wanted to sink into the floor. 

He sighed, sitting straight. "They insulted me. And Hermione by extension."

"How so?"

"He mentioned that in order to sit with Draco, I  _ needed permission from my girlfriend _ , which she is not. Then she leaned over, and in less polite words, asked if I had slept with her yet, then said it was obvious that I didn't because of my phobia. To which he asked if it was a think that all middle eastern people did, or if it was just me. Understandably irritated, I tried to rein in on my anger and was asked if I would be a terrorist. I felt the need to inform them of how wrong they were in not only my country of origin but also about their attitude."

"So you deny saying those words?"

"Oh, not at all. I did call him what I thought at the time. I take full responsibility in that. I just figure that you deserve to know the reason why." He leaned forward, looking at the two of them. "But they didn't say that, did they?" Looking back at Dumbledore, he continued. "I also said fuck the both of them and pushed the chair roughly against the table. I like to think that I was pretty patient for holding out as long as I did."

* * *

 

Sirius and Harry were sitting in the hall, listening to the conversation between parents. The two students were also in the hall, but as far from Harry as possible.

" _ They're just words. He shouldn't have gotten offended. _ " Mrs Flint all but yelled. Harry looked across the hall an noticed that the school's achievements were on the board on the wall.

" _ Yes. Words. Just like he said. If he can't get offended by people being racist, they shouldn't get offended by him standing up for himself. _ " First place in sports, theatre, and Mathletes.

Harry cleared his throat. "This is going well."

Sirius smirked. "That neaderthal comment was pretty good." Harry smiled as well. 

"You think? I thought it was a bit weak compared to anything else I could have said." Sirius chuckled. 

"The dick thing was inspired. I thought you didn't like to cuss?"

"I generally don't. I was just irritated." The door was thrown open and James walked out, fuming. 

"Three days!" He screamed, pacing up and down in front of them. The other parents much have still been talking. "They're suspending you for another three days."

"Hey. I get more family time." James' expression softened but hardened again when he heard the Flint boy chuckling. When the door opened again, the other parents walked out. 

"Let's go." She demanded. 

"What?"

"You've gotten in trouble. You're suspended. Let's go."

"For how long?"

"Two weeks. Let's go." She demanded, and Harry could tell that she was the leader of the family. 

"But, football-"

"You will be lucky if you ever step foot out of that house again. Move!" Harry watched them leave. 

"At least they're getting what they deserve too?"

* * *

 

The trip home was relatively uneventful. Sirius and James talked idly while Harry looked out the window. When at home, Harry walked up to his room, Padfoot on his tail. He changed out of his uniform and into softer clothes before plopping on his bed. Not even a full minute later, there was a knock on his door. "Come in." Sirius walked in, carrying a small box. Harry sat up with a groan and looked to see that it was an assorted box of chocolate. He raised an eyebrow at Sirius. 

"It was at the store. One of those stores that start setting out for Christmas two months too early."

"And you went in to get chocolate?"

"Well, James went in to see what it was like. I went with him and saw the chocolate."

"Why are you trying to buy my affections?"

"I'm not-" He looked at Harry's sceptical appearance and sighed. "I wanted to talk and thought that chocolate would make it easier." Harry adjusted so that Sirius could sit down. He opened the box and saw that there were at least ten candies. Harry picked up a square one while Sirius picked up one badly shaped like a Christmas tree. 

"So how are we gonna do this? I ask a question and you answer then you ask a question and I answer?" Sirius shrugged. 

"If that's what you want." Harry nodded, clearing his throat before taking a bite of the chocolate. The strong taste of ginger exploded over his tongue and he coughed. Still, he finished it, clearing his throat after he swallowed. 

Swallowing again and clearing his throat, Harry asked, "When did you first find out you liked guys?"  Sirius tensed, apparently not realizing Harry would start so strong. He chuckled a bit.

"I didn't really realize I was looking at guys until I was in fifth grade. There was this one boy who every girl had their eyes on and I just... you know... I saw how fit he looked- at the time, anyways. He was tall and blonde and tan and my mind just clung to that idea. It wasn't until I was in highschool that I realized that I never actually looked at girls." Harry nodded, taking another chocolate, this time it was round. He hummed at the taste of the fudge in the centre. "My turn?" Harry nodded. "Why do you always snap at people for looking in the rear-view mirror?"

"Did dad put you up to this?"

"He mentioned it, but I've noticed it as well." Harry nodded, taking a breath to calm himself. 

"You're just jumping right into it, aren't you?"

"To be fair, I've been curious about it since I first noticed it." 

"M-mom." He tensed and Harry immediately wanted to go back and time and stop himself from talking. "Right before..." He cleared his throat, felling it closing in either panic or tears, he wasn't sure. "She was looking into the mirror at me. If she was using it like she was supposed to, she wouldn't have crashed, I think."

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Harry shrugged. Sirius grabbed his shoulders, turning him. "Harry, it wasn't your fault. There's nothing different that you could have possibly done that would have changed it." Harry's eyes were stinging as he looked up. They were going blurry and blinking made them sting more. He was pulled in and his face was pressed against Sirius' shoulder. Padfoot rubbed his head against Harry and he laughed, petting the dog.

* * *

 

Later that afternoon, while Harry was making a sandwich, someone knocked on the door. He groaned, putting the bread together and cleaning up before hearing it again. "Okay!" He yelled, walking to the window. No car was in the driveway because James and Sirius went to bother Remus at work and Regulus was in his room. He sighed, barely pulling the door open, seeing blonde hair. He opened the door fully, looking at Draco. "What are you doing here?" 

"I heard that you got suspended again."

"Yea. For only three days this time."

"Well, I just figured I'd visit."

"Well, Dad and Sirius aren't home."

"You're alone?"

"No. Regulus is upstairs in his room." Draco nodded. "Do you want to come in?" He nodded, walking forward. When Harry turned after closing the door, Draco was staring at him.

"I wanted to say sorry." Harry looked at Draco. 

"For what?"

"I'm the one who wanted to sit with you and I didn't say anything when they started."

"It's not your fault. I'm sure you didn't know they were going to start." He walked to his room, Draco following behind. He yelled up the stairs. "Draco is here! We're gonna be in my room." And he walked in, closing the door. He sat on the bed, watching Draco pull up a chair. 

"Is this all you do when you're suspended?" Harry nodded, swallowing his bite.

"It's more fun when Sirius is here. Since I'm alone, this is my life." Draco nodded again, looking at the desk. His head moved to the side and he stood. 

"Is this your mom?" Harry stood, walking over. 

"Yea."

"Is this the only picture you have of her? I'd figure you'd have more." 

"Oh." He opened his closet, pulling down a photo album that was covered in dust. It was sitting there since they had moved in, the memories too hard to think about at this point in his life. He only kept it in his room with the hope that maybe looking at her wouldn't be so hard eventually. He blew the dust from the top, coughing a bit as it burned his throat and nose. He handed the book to Draco. "It's mostly pictures of her. There are some pictures of me and Dad and Sirius there too."

Draco sat down, opening it. A small smile touched his face as he looked at the pages. "She was really pretty." Harry nodded, thinking about the last time he saw her.  _ Not the car ride _ , he told himself.  _ before that _ . He was watching her through the mirror as she was playing with his hair. It was slightly darker than hers. "Are you in a dress here?" Harry stood, all but ripping the book out of his hands, sandwich forgotten. He looked. The picture in question was when he was very small in a denim overall dress with a yellow shirt under it. Lily was behind him, threatening to tickle him. Harry snapped the book closed. 

"Sorry." He cleared his throat. "Did someone just drop you off here?"

"Y-yea." Draco looked down at the floor. "They're coming in about an hour. Unless someone decides to take me home first." Harry smiled and as subtlely as he could, slid the book under his pillow. The room became so quiet that Harry was sure Draco could hear his heartbeat. 

"I'm gonna put music on." He walked over to his desk, searching for the right CD- Anything will work to kill silence but what if Draco doesn't like it?- and he settled for Guns 'N Roses. His father had bought him the greatest hits CD when it came out earlier that year.  He put the disk in, looking at Draco. He smiled softly, so Harry figured it was okay. He walked over, sitting on his bed before laying back. Draco looked up, squinting at the ceiling. 

"Do you have paint on your ceiling?" Harry chuckled. 

"Yea. When the lights are off, it glows. It's probably late enough now that you can probably see them since it gets dark so early." 

"Really?" 

"Turn out the lights and come here." So Draco did, walking over to Harry's bed and laying beside him. 

"That's cool." He mentioned, looking up. 

"It's even cooler in the pitch black. Draco moved for a moment, coming back to lay down. Harry felt something against his hand that felt like fabric. Draco had put gloves on. He could bet that they were the same gloves as from the Halloween dance. Harry took that extra step, wrapping his hand around the gloved hand. Their fingers were laced together and Harry's chest felt particularly warm and light. 

"So, I know I messed up. The dance thing was a huge mistake. It's my fault that you didn't go with me."

"Yea?" Harry turned his head to look at Draco, but his gaze was locked on the ceiling. 

"Well, I want to try again." He cleared his throat, licking his lips. "There's one more dance that is just the school instead of the whole town. It's called the Wonderland Ball. You know, cause-" He turned and their faces were close enough that Harry could feel Draco's breath on his cheek. "because of the winter wonderland. I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me."

"Aren't school dances for couples?" He asked, trying- but failing to keep his eyes away from Draco's lips. They were plump and pink and looked extra soft. 

"Well, it could be?" Draco seemed to be trying the same thing, but failing spectacularly. "But it doesn't have to be." Harry hummed.

"I'll think about it." Draco smiled. Harry's eyes slid to the bruise that was covered with loose powder again. "Can I ask- Who- where did the bruise come from?" The hand that wasn't holding Harry's came up and touched his chin. 

"I... fell." He said. "I was walking up the stairs. I slipped and fell."

"You're lying." Draco wouldn't look at him. Harry sighed and stood, pulling his hand from Draco's. 

"What's wrong?" Harry turned back. 

"You're lying. You lied to me." He all but yelled. He sighed. "Right to my face." Draco stood, walking over. Harry backed up at every step that Draco took until his back hit the wall. Draco's hands touched the wall behind Harry. 

"I don't want to... to lie. I don't, but you wouldn't understand."

"Then help me understand."

"Harry-"

"You can trust me." With shaking hands- he had only done this a few times before- he reached up. He closed his eyes tightly, letting his hands touch Draco's shoulder's before slowly, and not to mention hesitantly, slid his hands up inch by inch, flinching when he touched the skin on Draco's neck, then slowly up further. Keeping his eyes closed tightly, he felt Draco's cheeks. 

"Harry." He swallowed at the feeling that talking gave. "Open your eyes."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because then if I do, it'll start again. My doctor found out that if I keep my eyes closed or covered, I can touch people. As soon as I open my eyes, it'll kick in again."

"How Long did it take for you to learn this?" 

"six sessions, I think."

"Sessions?"

"Therapy." He mumbled. "Every Wednesday."

"So that's-"

"Please stop talking. Just for now." He nodded. "Just... trust me, okay? Nothing is going to change." Draco's hands came up and touched Harry's shoulders. 

"Can I do something?" He whispered and Harry could feel his breath against his skin again. "Just once?" Harry wasn't sure what he wanted, but he did know that whatever Draco wanted, he would do.

Harry nodded. He sucked in a breath when Draco leaned in and something touched his lips. Harry hummed in his throat at the feeling of Draco pushing further into it and Harry felt like his legs were going to give out and butterflies were having a party in his stomach.His face was warm and his belly was twisting and he never wanted to pull away. Could he stay like this forever, just his lips connected with Draco's? When Draco’s fingers softly cradled Harry’s chin and his lips moved slightly, Harry’s knees gave out so Draco reached down and grabbed his hips. That caused a new feeling in Harry that made a sound come from his throat. 

At the sound of a knock on the door, Draco pulled away as if Harry had burned him and Harry felt a pang in his chest at the loss. The door opened as he opened his eyes and Sirius walked in. 

"We're... home." He scowled at Draco, who gave a small wave to the man. "Why are you here?"

"He's visiting," Harry mentioned, voice significantly more rough than he was used to. "Because I have a few classes with him. And he wanted to see if I needed help. With those classes." Draco looked over, nodding. 

"W-well, since you don't need help, I'm going to... go. Downstairs. And wait for someone to come pick me up." He nodded again, almost to himself and walked out, careful to avoid Sirius. Harry cleared his throat as Sirius was staring at him with squinted, distrusting eyes. 

"So how's Remus' work?"

"The loser chose to work in a library," Sirius mentioned, almost as if a switch was flicked. "I mean, we have a library here. If it was that bad, we could pay him to keep the place orderly."

* * *

 

Harry woke up not remembering his dream, but with a very distinct tingling between his thighs. Blinking away the blurry feeling in his eyes and raking his hands down his face, he looked over to the clock. In bright red, the clock changed from 3:17 to 3:18. He sighed, shifting and noticing that Padfoot wasn't at the end of the bed as he usually was. Assuming that he was outside of the room, Harry turned to his side, facing the wall. He closed his eyes to try and get back to sleep. 

After what felt like hours later, he looked back to the clock. 3:26. Groaning and pulling the pillow up and over his head, he all but screamed into it. When he shifted, he felt the tingling again. This is a part of puberty he thought to himself. At least that's how it was explained by Sirius. He hissed to himself, burying his head further into the pillow. His hands were sweating and breathing was a bit hard, so he lifted the pillow away from his face. 

He looked at his hand in the barely there light. He had touched Draco. More than that, he was almost making out with him. That's probably what the dream was related to. That's how it always is recently. With another long-suffering sigh, Harry squeezed his hand into a fist a few times. 

Thinking about earlier that day made his thighs tingle all over again and he groaned. As if he wasn't controlling his hands, he slid them under the blanket.  _ Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea _ his mind chanted, but his hands weren't listening. He slid his shirt up a bit.  _ BAD IDEA, BAD IDEA _ . It was like his mind was almost banging pots and pans together. As he slid his hand down further, he sucked in a hissing breath, causing him to need to cover his mouth. He'd never done this before.  **_BAD IDEA, BAD IDEA_ ** but he shifted his hand and every logical thought disappeared. 

Shifting to his side, he raised his leg slightly to give himself room. It felt like his eyes were starting to water and white spots were appearing in his vision before he realized that he actually needed to breathe. Raking in a deep breath, he squeezed his eyes closed. Curling into himself, he couldn’t stop the noise from his throat as he bit his lip and his whole body tightened. 

Harry laid there for a long time, vaguely aware that he had a coppery kind of taste in his mouth. 


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to periodically start adding Remus-Harry bonding moments because it's important to me. There's also a minor moment of violence, but it's more of the after-effects of the violence rather than anything being described as happening.

Harry walked downstairs feeling worse than when he went to sleep. Walking to the kitchen, he saw Remus cooking something. "What're you making?"

Remus jumped, turning around. When he saw Harry, he calmed down significantly. "I saw this recipe at the library in one of those life magazines about making pancakes with bananas and eggs." 

"Really?" He walked up and looked at the skillet, seeing that it looked just like a regular pancake. "Interesting." He hummed. Remus smiled down at him, then his brow furrowed. 

"What happened to your lip?" He touched his own face, feeling a bump. Walking to the office, he pulled out a handheld mirror seeing a red mark across the surface. When he tested, it was the exact size and shape of his top teeth. Shoving the mirror back into the drawer, he turned to see Remus looking at him expectantly. 

"I bit it in my sleep." Remus nodded slowly, humming as he went back to his work.

When Harry walked up, he leaned over slightly and whispered. "It'll be more believable if you say you fell down the stairs." He offered. "Maybe you missed a step." He felt his face going very warm. "Don't worry. I'll tell people the same thing. I don't really think I want to know the real story. If it's something that you're trying to cover up, I'm sure it's important to not say." Harry pressed his lips together, nodding. 

"So, to change the subject, why can't you come to the haunted house? Dad said it was because of work?"

"Yea. They have this Halloween thing going on and since I'm new they want me to do it." He nodded, walking over to sit down. "So, the way I hear it, you were suspended again?"

"Yea. I think this school is out to get me." He mumbled. "I've never been suspended before this year. I never even had detention." 

"Maybe it's just that your luck has run out." Harry snorted, noticing that the coffee tray was out. 

"Who had coffee?"

"Hm?" He turned around to see Harry pointing at it. "Oh. Sirius probably. He woke up halfway through the night. He's asleep right now." Harry nodded. There were tiny cups of creamer and a bunch of stirring straws, along with the little sugar packets. There was white and cane sugar. Looking to make sure Remus was looking away, he picked up a cane sugar packet. careful to open it without noise, he tipped his head back. "You know, you could just ask." 

As the sugar fell into his mouth, he breathed in and inhaled half of the tiny packet, coughing. He leaned forward, feeling his eyes watering as he coughed. 

"There's tea in the refrigerator."

"How- is that- supposed to help-" He stopped talking to have a coughing fit. "It's coating the- inside of my lungs." Remus shrugged as he turned to Harry. 

"It will help. I mean, as good as it can with candy-coated insides." Harry wanted to curse, but as he couldn't breathe, it was a bit hard. Remus seemed to take it upon himself to get a glass and pour tea in, setting it in front of Harry, who drank it down like oxygen. It... helped. When he was finally able to breathe again, he scowled at Remus, who put a pancake in front of him. Remus just put his hands up in defence as he backed to the stove. Scowling, Harry took a bite of the cake in front of him, humming at the taste. Three bites later it was gone. Two pancakes later, Sirius came downstairs with a bedhead that made Harry's hair look tame. "This just in, Pancakes quiet the boy child." Harry rolled his eyes but still kept eating.

* * *

 

Since it was only two days, James didn't make Harry go to school on Thursday or Friday. The weekend came closer still and Harry began to feel jittery from sitting around doing nothing all day. Draco wasn't meant to be at his house until late on Sunday where he would be spending the night and going to school with Harry the next day. He's bored out of his wits to the point of laying on the hair with his head towards the TV and feet in the air. The TV was upside down and he couldn't tell their left from his right and his head is pulsing with the blood rushing to it, but he didn't move. James and Regulus went off to somewhere in the car and Remus was at work. Sirius was upstairs in his room pouting because Remus was at work, so Harry had no one to talk to. 

He was so bored that he didn't even change the channel from a local station talking about the history of the town they were in. Harry wasn't even paying attention, it was just background noise. 

When his phone rang, he picked it out of his pocket and answered without looking who it was. "Hello?"

" _Harry?_ " He heard, causing him to sit up- only to slide down the length of the chair so that he was sitting sideways. 

"Draco?"

" _Yea. I was... well, my mom was wondering if it would be okay to come early_." His voice was tight and Harry swallowed thickly. 

"Yea. Sure, it's okay. I can call my dad to pick you up."

" _I'm gonna be dropped off again_."

"Alright. I'm right in the living room, so just knock when you get here." Without so much of a goodbye, he hung up, leaving Harry to look at the phone in confusion. He laid back down how he was until he heard Sirius walking- more like trying to sneak- down the stairs. He sat up, expecting to see Sirius poking his head out to see Harry, but he didn't. Curious, Harry flipped over and stood, straightening his clothes and walked to the kitchen where Sirius was standing. The fridge was open and he was drinking straight from the milk carton. When Harry walked in, he paused, putting the carton back without a word. When he looked at Harry, he seemed to be thinking very hard about what to say. 

"Tell no one what you saw and I'll pay you forty dollars."

"Sirius, my father is James Potter. If I want forty dollars, I could just ask him." He cursed under his breath. 

"I'll buy you a game system. And a TV for your room." Harry raised his eyebrow.

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"I may or may not have yelled at James for the same thing. Except I was joking and I don't think he knew that." Harry had to laugh at that.

"Well, I could also ask Dad for a game system if I really wanted one."

"I won't tell your father that you kissed Draco." Harry tensed, feeling cold sweats cover his whole body. His palms were clammy and when he looked up at Sirius, his jaw was dropped. "You..." He was staring in disbelief. "You didn't." Harry swallowed thickly, not meeting Sirius' eyes. "I was..." Sirius started to pace, his hands carding through his hair. He chose not to put it up this time, so it was freely flowing over his shoulders. He looked back at Harry. "I was just messing." Did he sound almost... heartbroken? 

"Sirius-"

"How?" The light air turned very awkward and Harry wanted to be anywhere but the room. "You can't touch people. How did it happen?"

"I-" His voice was scratchy and he cleared his throat. "I k-kept my eyes closed." Sirius sighed. 

"Because if you're not seeing it..." He trailed off with a sigh, running his hands over his face. "How did it even start?"

"I wanted him to trust me because something is going on with him and he won't tell me o I closed my eyes and touched his face. That's when-"

"When you kissed." He sighed.

"Why are you freaking out about this? I'm old enough to have my first kiss."

"You aren't supposed to Harry."

"What?" Sirius crouched down to compensate for the difference in height. 

"Harry. You not being able to touch people, it has this way of keeping you looking innocent and young. I know you're not a baby or innocent anymore, but a guy can dream, you know?" He nodded, not quite understanding, but agreeing anyway. "The fact that you did this..." He took a breath, trying to find the right words. "It's just shocking to see that you're actually growing up and aren't that little kid anymore." Sirius stood and walked to the table, sitting down. "When I look at you... it's complicated. sometimes I see you as the little kid who used to fight with Lily about wearing clothes and had more cuts on you than skin. But sometimes, I see this boy who is growing up and doesn't need his family as much anymore."

Harry chewed on his lip for a moment. "Sirius, I'll still depend on you guys. Just because I'm growing up doesn't mean I don't want you around."

"But you won't want us around as much." Harry felt something tight in his chest. At a knock on the front door, the mood quickly dissipated. 

"I- uh... I was gonna mention that Draco asked if he could come early, so..." He walked out of the room to the front door. opening the door, he saw Draco looking worse off than he'd ever been. His clothes were jostled and his hair was messy and not gelled back. "Hey." He had sunglasses on that covered a large portion of his face and turned his whole head to look at Harry. "C- come in?"

Something deep in Harry's abdomen was tight and uncomfortable when he looked at Draco. He watched as Draco walked forward. When Harry closed the door, he turned around. "Is..." He cleared his throat. "Is your father around?"

"No. He and Regulus went... somewhere. Sirius is here though." Harry looked into the kitchen where Sirius was still standing. Harry motioned for him to come forward and turned to look at Draco. When the older man walked in, Draco simply handed him an envelope. 

"What's this?"

"From my mother." He mentioned. "She said to _give it to an adult, it'll help_." With a look that was mixed with concern and confusion, he opened the envelope, pulling out a letter. Harry watched his eyes darting back and forth as he read, his facial expression growing more grave by the word. 

Sirius looked from the letter to Draco and back a few times before setting the letter on the closest stand. The man walked forward and with a visibly shaking hand, he reached up and slid the glasses carefully off of Draco's face. Harry sucked in a breath at the sight of the deep purple colouring around his eye and the red where the white belonged in his eyeball. There was also a cut on his cheek.

"What..." Sirius couldn't finish his sentence, looking at Draco closely. "Harry, go get an icepack from the freezer and a dishtowel from the drawer." Harry nodded, rushing his way through the house, pulling out the squishiest ice pack and the softest towel. 

Walking back, he heard Draco talking. "I- I can't. Moving my eye hurts."

"Who did this?" When there was no response, Sirius grew louder. "Dammit Draco, just tell me. Was it your mother?" There was a moment of silence. "So your father then?" Harry walked back in, wrapping the towel around the ice and handing it to the blonde. "Can you tell me why?"

Draco hissed when he touched the ice to his face, jerking it away for a moment before trying again, much more carefully. "I was talking to Pansy. Over the phone. I guess my father heard what I had said, either listening on another line or listening from the doorway. I said that I had... done something... and he didn't approve."

"What was it?" He looked at Harry for a split second before turning away. "Was it the kiss?" Draco's attention snapped to Sirius. "Don't worry. I weaselled it out of him. I'm not upset." Harry thought that his attitude towards it changed pretty fast, but he also didn't blame Sirius. Draco nodded weakly. 

"Mom never really cared what I did. She always said that as long as I was happy and in a healthy relationship, she wouldn't care. She'd known a long time ago, I suppose. She was always more accepting of it. About everything." He looked at Sirius for a moment. "She doesn't share the same opinions about anything as others do, she's just really good at pretending."

"Pretending?"

"She knows that Aunt Bella isn't a good person." He looked at Harry for a moment. "That's why she always sends me away when she's around." Harry nodded. "Dad, though... He's not acceptable at all. He's..." Draco sighed, defeated. "It's complicated."

"I know," Sirius stated, so Harry looked up. Sirius had a firm look on his face, not angry, but not passive either. His eyes were locked on Draco, who nodded. Harry had the sudden feeling that there was something he was being left out of. 

"When he heard me talking to Pansy..." He swallowed thickly. Draco opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. 

"You don't have to say anything," Harry assured him. "If talking about what happened makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to explain." The blonde nodded, swallowing thickly again. 

"Well, when Mom found out, she told me to call. I used her personal phone. While I did, she wrote that and told me to give it to an adult."

"Wait here," Sirius mentioned, so Harry led Draco over to the couch to sit. He helped keep the ice pack on Draco's face while he talked. 

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Dropping this on you."

"I hate to say that I expected it sooner or later." He didn't look at Draco's face. "I kind of started to understand after Pansy had talked to me at the dance." Draco groaned and leaned over, leaning his head on Harry's shoulder. Since Harry was sitting on his legs, he was a bit taller than he normally was, but he was still short compared to Draco. He sat there, though, letting Draco get comfortable. Sirius walked back in, stopping to look at the two of them for only a moment, before taking a breath. 

"James and Reg are on their way back. We do things as kind of a house decision, so I called Remus and he's getting picked up as well, so everyone will be here."

"A house decision?" Harry asked. They only made large decisions with the whole house, something like if someone was going to spend a lot of money or was going to start living with them like with Regulus. 

Everything was awkward and tense for a long time until the door was thrown open and James walked through. Behind him, Regulus stood, and behind him, Remus. Before anyone could respond, Sirius handed James the letter. He listened to his dad mumble along with the words he was reading. 

"...unfortunate occurrence... Draco's best interest... safe and healthy... paid in full... Temporary residence?" He looked up at Sirius, who nudged his head towards the teens on the couch. James crouched down, looking at Draco for a moment and Harry watched as Regulus and Sirius talked lowly a distance away. James looked at Draco, silently asking for permission. Draco nodded slightly, so his Dad carefully touched his face, causing him to hiss and jerk away. James stood and sighed, running a hand through his hair, mussing it further. "So..." He motioned towards the dining room. Draco sat next to Harry, Regulus on the other side. on the other side of the table, Sirius, Remus, and James. "This becomes a vote at this point if I'm honest." He mumbled, running a hand through his hair again. "Draco's mother had asked if we can take him in for a while. With full necessities paid." Harry coughed.

"Is it any question? I think he should stay."

"Harry, this isn't about your personal feelings." Harry stood abruptly. 

"I know it's not." He mentioned. "He was hurt. He's safe here. When Sirius left, you took him in without a question. We barely even had to ask for Regulus to stay here. Because we're safe. Why is he any different?" James reeled back, surprised. 

"Where will he sleep?" Remus asked. 

"On the couch?" He offered. 

"Could he sleep in Harry's room?" Regulus asked, which resulted in James and Sirius collectively yelling no! "Okay, that's out." He mumbled, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "If I had somewhere to sleep, he could probably use my room."

"My room," James mentioned. "You know, for instance." Sirius scowled at them suspiciously, Regulus not meeting his eye. "That, or he could live with his dear brother." Sirius' eyes flicked to Remus, who seemed to not like that idea. 

"Okay. Regulus sleeps in your room, Draco has his own room." James nodded, pulling the letter back out. 

"It says that someone will be back to either give him clothes or take him back if we don't want to take him in." Harry looked at Draco, who was just looking at the table's surface. 

"What do you want in this?" He asked, catching Draco's attention. 

"What?"

"Are you okay with living here?" Draco looked at him and Sirius, then James. 

"I... I don't mind. I've... I've never really been anywhere else but with my parents, so I don't know much about how this works." Harry nodded. When he looked up at his father, he saw a soft smile on his face. 

"So, Draco. Regulus has to move his stuff, so he can show you to your room." Sirius mentioned. 

"I don't have many things." He mentioned as they walked up the stairs. Harry walked to the kitchen, wondering what Draco would feel good eating. He went with pulling out a bunch of fruit, putting many of them in a bowl as a basic fruit salad. He walked up to the room, seeing that Draco was sitting on the bed while Regulus cleared his draws of clothes that had been bought for him over the time that he had been living with them. Harry couldn't help but notice that most of his clothes were dark, a large portion of them being black. That was one way that Sirius and Regulus were similar. He gave a little bow to Harry when he left the room, so Harry walked over, sitting next to Draco.

"I didn't know what to get you, but I figured a fruit salad would be okay." Draco chuckled. 

"I can't eat grapes, but other than that..." He looked up at Harry's eyes. "It's perfect." Harry felt his face grow warm and he handed the bowl over. "You don't possibly have a fork, so you?" Harry cursed himself for forgetting, causing Draco to laugh. "It's okay. My rich blood isn't above eating with my fingers." He reached out and picked up a banana slice. Harry reached in and plucked a grape out of the bowl.

"Why can't you eat grapes?"

"I don't know. They make my mouth feel fuzzy and makes me break out in hives."

"So, you're allergic?" Draco paused, and Harry watched his lips twitch slightly as if to hold back a smile. 

"No. I'm not allergic to anything."

"Draco, the same thing happens to me when I eat peanut butter. My throat closes up and I can't breathe and my skin gets hives."

"That's an allergy. I'm not allergic to grapes."

"You're allergic to them." Draco rolled his eyes at that, picking up a raspberry. 


	24. Chapter 24

"You two ready?" James asked as he peaked into Harry's room. They had moved there, listening to Harry's radio while laying on his bed, looking at the ceiling. Hary sat up and looked out the window. 

"It's still daytime. I thought that it was at nine PM?"

"Well, it's a fair distance away." Harry looked at the clock. It was 6:46. James had closed the door, leaving. Harry shrugged, walking to his closet. He was about to put his sweater on but turned to see Draco watching him. His eyes flicked to the door, then to Draco. 

"You can leave." Draco looked on, confused.

"Why? Just change."

"Don't take it personally. He doesn't allow anyone in the room when he changes." James had mentioned through the door. Harry rolled his eyes, watching Draco leave, before changing into his most comfortable sweater. 

Later in the car, it as James driving, Regulus in the passenger seat, then Harry, Draco, and Sirius in the back. Harry was by the window looking at the scenery as it passed, Draco leaning over his shoulder. About ten minutes into the trip, Draco made a noise. "Isn't it cold for cows? I mean, It's too cold for humans and dogs, so why not cows, too?"

"Cow's don't stay out all day," James explained. "They are let out to eat and exercise, but they always go back to the barn, where it's usually much warmer."

"Are they soft?" Harry looked at Draco. He didn't have a joking expression on, so Harry realized he was serious.

"You've never touched a cow?"

"You have?" Harry nodded, watching the farm going out of view.

"A few miles down the road, there was this lady who owned a farm. She would hold a festival every autumn. She always let us pet her animals." Draco looked at him for a moment. His eyes had the little flecks of grey inside and being so close made him feel warm.

* * *

Harry hadn't quite fallen asleep, but he wasn't fully awake either. It didn't make sense. He couldn't move or speak, but he could hear what was going on. He heard the low hum of the wheels on the road and the occasional crunch of a rock. He figured that if he really wanted to move, he could, but he was far too comfortable with a warm weight on him. 

He'd been half asleep before, and this is what he imagined it was. "How that kid could fall asleep in a car so easily is beyond me." Someone mentioned. It was probably Sirius.

"Is he asleep?" Regulus asked. 

"Well, he hasn't responded to anyone talking, but he also hasn't woken up screaming yet." That was his father.

"Well, Draco is using him as a body pillow, so that may be a help."

"What do you mean?"

"Kids like him, the ones who don't touch people often? I've read about it. They become touch-starved and any kind of contact can be overwhelming, or they end up obsessing over the touch."

"What haven't you read about, Sirius?" James asked. 

"Hey, at least I read." Sirius scoffed. "I wish Remus were here. He at least appreciates me."

"You can tell me," Regulus suggested softly. "I'll listen." The seat shifted for a moment. 

"Well, I will. James can't listen because he didn't care."

"I care." He mentioned, defensively. "It's about my son, possibly."

"Anyways, I read that he's gonna be in development mentally until he's like, twenty. Generally, a child will need physical contact and things like that. It's part of nurturing and emotional growth."

"Okay, so since he can't touch people-"

The words began to fade in an out. The music was flowing through the speaker and everything was so comfortable. 

_ He was sitting in a meadow. Chimes were just barely flowing through the wind. He could feel the wind jostling his hair. Looking around, the sun was shining pleasantly as he could hear music starting. Harry stood, looking down to see that he was wearing jeans and without a shirt, his chest blissfully flat. He ran his hands down his chest feeling nothing but flat skin.  _

_ He began to follow where the music was coming from. He followed, hearing voices overlapping as they sang. He followed to a river, seeing a raft slowly floating down. On the raft, he looked closer to see that there were frogs on the raft. One was playing the banjo, another, the chimes, and one, a fiddle. One was singing into a stick like a microphone. Every few minutes, some of the other frogs would join in, singing in the background.  _

_ The singer frog looked right at him. "And I ain't got no worries, cause I ain't in no hurry, at all." The one on the banjo began to strum, so he walked closer, but it was like he was stuck. "Well, if it rains, I don't care! Don't make no difference to me. Just take that street car that's going uptown yeah, I'd like to hear some funky Dixieland and dance a honky tonk and I'll be buying everybody drinks all round." _

_ It seemed that the more he was trying to walk forward, the thicker the mud became. Across the river, he saw someone watching and sitting on the bank. She was swaying back and forth, smiling as she clapped along. Her hair was like fairies, glowing in the dying sunlight. "I'd like to hear some funky Dixieland pretty mama, come and take me by the hand." It began to repeat as she started to float closer, the music getting louder and louder. She stood, walking over.  _

_ She reached out, willing Harry to take her hand. She could help him out. She could get him unstuck. He reached out to her, but she was still too far away. He inched closer and closer, willing her to step forward so he could grab. Closer and closer, just before he touched her fingers, he heard a loud horn of a truck and turned just in time to- _

Harry woke up sitting up, screaming, and looking around, patting his body down to make sure he was still whole. Looking over, Draco had been jostled awake and his hair was sticking up. The car had come to a screeching halt, causing other cars on the highway to blare their horns before the car pulled over to the side of the road. James looked at him in the rearview mirror and he felt his body lurch forward and his hand covered his mouth. He heard cussing before his door opened and he was pulled into the cold air. 

He barely made it three steps before he had to lean over behind the car and felt his stomach lurch. At this point, the only thought that was running through his head was that he'd rather dream about Draco any day than have to deal with this. Someone was touching his back through his jacket, rubbing his shoulder while he vomited. Unable to handle everything at once, he felt his legs collapse under him, his knees hitting the pavement painfully. He didn't realise that he was crying until someone was running their hand through his hair whispering comforting words that he didn't really hear. 

He was given a handful of napkins, one used to wipe his face, another for his eyes. A bottle of water was pushed into his hand, but he was too shaken to be able to actually open it, let alone drink. 

Someone was speaking to him, but all he heard was buzzing as he put his head to the side of the car. Taking steady breaths, he felt the tight bundle in his chest loosen slightly. _In through the nose, out through the mouth._ He only had to do that a few times before he could actually feel again. 

"-happened before?"

"I think it's only when he falls asleep in the car. He's never done this before." James responded. 

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"Just give him some time. How are you? He kind of jostled you, didn't he?"

"I'm fine." He knew that James was talking to Draco. Harry stood on shaky legs, taking a drink out of the bottle to rinse his mouth before drinking and swallowing. He cleared his throat, feeling a tense awkwardness. He sighed, walking to the crowd of people watching him.

"S- sorry." James smiled at him softly. 

"Should we just go home?"

"No!" Harry yelled, before clearing his throat. "No, it's okay. I feel better. I don't want to ruin the day." His dad nodded, opening the door for Harry, who climbed in. Sirius climbed in on the other side after Draco and Regulus climbed in the front seat. 

"Do you mind me asking what you dreamed about?" James asked. 

"Frogs." He mumbled before he really realized what he said. 

"Frogs?" He shrugged, leaning against the window, looking out. It was nighttime- he hadn't noticed before. The cars going up and down the road, all had their lights on. It wasn't long before they pulled into a building where music was blaring and lights were shining. Stepping out, he noticed that there were people walking around in costumes and he heard someone scream over the music. He looked at Draco, who looked just as excited as he was. When he parked, Harry pulled on the gloves, feeling them secure around his hands, covering every inch of him up to his neck.

They were made to wait outside, waiting for the clear. When they were allowed to walk in, the group of people- the five of them, plus about seven others- were told to sit in a sort of bleacher looking seat. It was like a mix of a chariot and bleachers on one side of the room. There was a murmur of talking until Harry heard something clicking. He held his hand up to stop Draco from talking as he listened. Before he had time to distinguish exactly what it was, the seat shifted, before swinging forward towards the wall. 

Harry reached out and grabbed the closest thing he could before the seat jerked to a stop in front of a painting that was moving. He thought it was a video until the person reached a handout and touched Draco's hand, before screaming at the top of its lungs. 

By the time they were allowed to stand and continue, Harry was shaking. It wasn't until then that he realized he grabbed Draco's hand and had yet to let it go. He dropped it quickly, trying to keep his face from giving away the awkwardness he felt. "Sorry."

The next room was what looked like a hallway. That's where they met a girl who was wearing high boots that made her a few inches taller and she was dressed almost like Slash, but with more blood covering her body. 

"Welcome!" She yelled suddenly, causing Harry to jump slightly, causing Draco to chuckle. She explained that the house they were in used to belong to a farmer in the nineteenth century before he brutally murdered his entire family then killed himself. 

"Grim," Harry muttered. She walked them through the door, to the next room, where a table was set up in the middle with what looked like salt pillars on the surface. 

"Every different family that moved in after that was faced with paranormal trouble. In this very room, the original owner hacked his wife to death with an axe. After, a fairly spiritual family came to live and held seances here to try and contact her." They were all told to put their hands on the table. The salt pillars began to glow and flicker. "Try it with us." She walked over, putting her hand on Harry's back. "What's your name?"

"Harry."

"Sat it, Harry. Call out to her. Ask Martha if she's here." He swallowed thickly, knowing the tactics they were using. Pay close attention to the people who seemed most scared. He cursed himself for being so jumpy. "Come on. _Martha, are you here?_ Just ask."

He sighed. "Martha, are you here?" 

"See? Not so bad. Why don't we help him?" Collectively, they all started to say it. The lights started to flicker and even the salt pillars began before all of the lights cut out. It was painfully silent for what seemed like hours before they heard someone chuckling and the lights started to store as holes opened in the table and people jumped out of them. Harry screamed, jerking away and into a person. He turned around to apologize but saw that it was a woman in farm clothes, but she was bloody and was missing an arm. 

"Help me," She whimpered as Harry jumped back to Draco. She was reaching out with the arm that she did have. "Why did he do this to me." The lights cut out again, and when they turned back on, there were only the people who paid in the room and the holes in the table were gone. Harry touched his hand to his chest and breathed heavily. 

"Scary enough for you?" Harry looked up sarcastically at Sirius, who was trying hard not to laugh. He wanted to punch Sirius in his damn face. 

By the time it was to the last room, Harry was thoroughly shaken. He was correct to say that they were singling him out because he was the jumpiest. When they made it outside, he realized that he was holding Draco's hand again, but didn't let go this time. 

"You okay?" He asked, carefully. Harry nodded shakily, taking a breath. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my defence, I've only been to two haunted houses in my entire life and it's based on my experiences.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to circumstances at home, this is going to be the last chapter I post for an indefinite amount of time. In the meantime, I would like to hear how you, my dear readers, think the story is gonna go from here. You're also free to suggest topics that you'd like to see written into the story. I will read them when I can get back to my computer. I may actually use some of them since I only have a basic outline of what I'm going to be writing, not a complex list.

When James woke up after the haunted house, he was slightly dizzy and a bit warm. When he opened his eyes, he realized that his arms were around someone. It was almost disorienting to feel someone against him again. The last person who he actually slept wrapped around was Lily. Every other fling or one-night stand had always slept on the other side of the bed if they stayed the night at all.

Carefully and slowly so not to wake Regulus, he slid his arm out from under his body. Regulus slept curled up in a ball, one hand under the pillow and his head, the other wrapped around his body. Slowly, he pulled his hand out inch at a time. When his arm was finally free, he flexed it, having lost feeling over the night. When the prickling stopped, he started the day, despite the fact that it was much later than usual. 

Harry wanted to stay home with Draco while they waited for someone to bring Draco some clothes and things he needed. James walked to Draco's room to make sure he was awake, only finding it empty. Curious- and slightly worried- he walked to Harry's room, finding it empty as well. 

He walked to Sirius' room- cursing himself for walking in without knocking- and told his friend. It wasn't until they went downstairs to the living room that they understood. Harry was on a couch, arm wrapped around himself in a similar way to Regulus and knees to his chest, asleep. Draco was in the closest chair, laying across it with one leg over the arm, while the other fell off of it, dangling down. The most peculiar part, that James thought anyway, was that Harry was still wearing his gloves and he and Draco were holding hands again. James sighed and pushed a hand through his hair as Sirius ran his hands over his face. 

"Maybe... he was... still scared." James offered. "I mean, he was the one they targetted the whole time. That would scare anyone." Sirius looked at James scathingly before walking off to the kitchen. Later, Harry walked into the kitchen where they were sitting. His hair was more mussed than before and he had lines on his face from sleeping on the couch. James noticed that he didn't have the gloves on anymore. 

"Sleep well?" Sirius asked, so James kicked him under the table. 

"Fine." He said breathily. He cleared his throat and sat down. "What's for breakfast?"

"Cereal. Unless Remus gets up soon, which I doubt will happen. He sleeps like a log."

"Logs don't sleep, so that doesn't make sense," Harry mentioned, with a snide smile. Sirius scoffed, feigning being offended. 

"You wound me, Harry Potter." Harry laughed, covering his face with his hands. A few moments later, Draco walked in, looking worse for the wear. His hair was messy and his clothes were in disarray. His eye wasn't looking any better than before. It looked to be worse and was slightly swelled. He sat down without a word next to Harry who slid him a banana while Harry ate the grapes. 

James found himself looking questionably at Sirius. Harry rarely ever ate fruit for breakfast, let alone grapes. Sirius opened his mouth as if he were going to ask, but James kicked him in the leg again. 

A few minutes later, Regulus came downstairs, hair quite ruffled as he sat down, picking up a piece of toast. He nibbled on it as he looked at nothing in particular, sitting beside James, who was particularly avoiding Sirius' questioning look. The look, which turned into a scowl as he looked at the both of them. Sirius stood, walking up the stairs as Harry looked at the side of Draco's face and Regulus shifted in the seat.

* * *

 

Harry didn't remember falling asleep on the couch, but he was almost glad that he did. He woke up before Draco had and got to see his face. Bruise aside, he had a relaxed sleeping face, as if it was the best time he had. Harry wished this time, more than any time before, that he could touch people so that he could sweep a lock of hair from Draco's face. 

Did Sirius ever get these weird urges when he looked at Remus? Or even when Remus looked at Sirius?

Breakfast was slightly awkward, both because Sirius and his father were skirting around him sleeping in the living room and because it seemed like James was keeping a secret again. If he really thought about it, wasn't it weird that the moment it was out there, James offered for Regulus to stay in his room? It almost made him too nervous to think about. James wouldn't... use Regulus to replace Lily. Would he? He shook his head at the thought. 

Later, at a knock on the door, Harry came face-to-face with Narcissa Malfoy. He had opened the door, seeing the tall blonde woman. She was rather dignified in her stance, holding herself as if she were meeting the mayor rather than the people her son would be living with. He'd only met her twice before- once when dropping Draco off, then once when he went to Draco's house for the library- and found her just as frightening. "Is your father home?" She asked, so Harry leaned into the house. 

"Dad!" He yelled. "The door is for you." He came around the corner wiping his face from something wet that was covering his whole front. 

"We need to fix the sink. Who is it?"

"Draco's mom." Harry stepped away so that James could step forward. He invited her in and instructed both boys to go upstairs, so they retreated to Harry's room. 

"So that's it?" Draco asked. "We're not gonna hear what they have to say?"

"Dad will tell us if it's important," Harry mentioned, plopping on his bed. He picked up his phone, which he had left in the room last night and forgot to charge. When he finally turned it on, it vibrated and he jumped, dropping it. Looking at it, he noticed that he had a few missed calls, most from Hermione last night. He swallowed thickly as he listened to the voicemails that were left. 

" _Hey, Harry. I just wanted to see if you were okay because we didn't really talk yesterday. Call me back when you get this."_

_"Harry. Seriously. Just call and say 'Hey, I'm alive and wasn't eaten by crazy haunted house people' and I'll be fine."_ By this time, Draco walked over and sat on the bed, listening to them as well.

"She's very..."

"She cares about me, that's all."

"If it makes you feel better, I wouldn't let you get eaten by haunted house people."

"That does make me feel better, thank you."

" _Harry. I know that Draco is probably with you, but I was joking the other day. I didn't_ _think you'd actually cover your eyes just to-_ " And Harry snapped his phone closed, feeling heat crawl over his face. It was awkwardly quiet for a long time before Draco cleared his throat. 

"So... What was it you two were talking about?"

"Nothing." Harry snapped quickly. He stood, walking over to his desk, looking for something to occupy his hands with. Before he found it, the door busted open and Harry snapped around, seeing Sirius, wide-eyed and breathing heavy. "Yes?" 

"Where's Padfoot?" Harry tensed, looking at Draco, then back at Sirius. 

"I hadn't seen him since we got home this morning." Sirius cursed and ran upstairs. Harry rushed to pull his shoes on, grabbing a jacket.

* * *

 

They ended up looking outside. Draco and Harry looked through the woods while Remus and Sirius walked around town looking. James stayed with Mrs Malfoy at the house. 

"Padfoot!" Harry yelled through the woods. He stepped over a fallen log, nearly tripping as he did, but Draco caught him by his arm. "Sorry."

"It's okay. So do you lose your dog often?" Harry straightened his clothes and kept walking. 

"No. This is the first time." He sighed as he stepped over another fallen branch. The air smelled earthy and breathing made his chest feel cold. "He was a rescue dog."

"Rescue?"

"Dad got him from the pound, I think. He was older when we first got him." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "PADFOOT!" They listened for a moment before walking further in. Draco was wearing Harry's sweater because his mother hadn't bought clothes. She had assumed that they would send Draco to go back home. Now that she was sure he had somewhere safe to be, she called for someone to bring clothes for Draco.

He and Draco walked, taking turns calling for the missing dog. Harry checked his watch. Sirius said that if they didn't find him within an hour, turn back. He also had his phone on him in case Sirius found him and called. The end of the hour was slowly crawling closer with no sign of the dog and Harry was losing hope. "Maybe someone found him and took him in?" Draco offered. "They're just waiting for someone to report him missing before they can say they have him." 

Harry took a breath. "PADFOOT!" He yelled one more time as a last resort. "PADS!" He sighed, sitting down on the closest log. He felt himself deflate. 

"We'll find him, Harry." Draco sat next to him, head leaned on his shoulder. When the phone gave a shrill ring, Harry jumped and rushed to get it, opening it. 

"Hello? Did you find him?"

" _Sorry, Harry. We haven't found him yet._ " Harry deflated, crushed under the weight of the disappointment he was feeling. " _Come on home."_

"What if he's out here? We could just miss him."

" _Harry, you won't be any good for him if your freezing cold and can barely move. Just come home. We'll deal with this when you get home._ " He sighed, feeling the cold seeping into his skin for the first time since getting outside. He sulked home, hissing at the sudden warmth against his freezing cheeks. The weather had dropped significantly overnight. 

Sirius walked over as soon as he walked in, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders. The Harry was tasked with making missing signs for Padfoot. He described the dog: About three years old, medium length black fur, Tamaskan, responds to Padfoot, Pads, and Padly. He also put the number to call if anyone had information. James was the one who put a picture.

"Where'd you get a picture?"

"I took it the first day he was here." Harry nodded, looking at the paper. It looked like a standard missing dog picture. With a sigh, Harry gave it to Sirius, who would give it to Remus when his shift started so that he could make copies at the library. Sirius would then go around town pinning them all around town.

* * *

 

The day ended with Harry getting a cup of hot chocolate. He sighed as he smelled the rich cocoa, humming into the cup. Sirius walked through the door a few hours later with his face pink from the cold. "There are pictures of him across all of the town, so if anyone finds him, they'll call." Harry nodded, feeling guilt burrowing into his gut. He knew it wasn't, deep deep in his heart, but he couldn't help but question himself: was this his fault?

Standing, he walked into the kitchen and made Sirius a cup of hot chocolate, which he took without question, hissing at the heat against his cold hands. He drank it anyway, looking at Harry. "We'll find him, don't worry." Harry nodded, but it didn't seem to help. He walked upstairs, walking to his room and closing the door. His phone rang, so without much thought, he ran to it, putting it to his ear. 

"Hello?"

" _Harry?_ " He deflated at the sound of Hermione's voice. 

"Oh. Hi."

" _Should I have not called? I know you're probably busy thinking about Draco and all that_."

"No, sorry. It's not you. It's just... Padfoot is missing and Sirius put posters everywhere and I feel like this is my fault."

" _Why would it be your fault?_ "

"Everything that's been happening, I just didn't notice he was gone."

" _You can't blame yourself for everything."_ Harry sat on his bed with a sigh. " _So what all has been happening_?"

"Well, a lot. Our living arrangements have been changed again."

" _What do you mean?"_

"Well, Regulus sleeps with my dad... or... h- he sleeps in my dad's room. He's probably not sleeping with my dad. I mean, I h-hope he's not s-sleeping with my dad. That's weird to think about. Not that I regularly think about it, this just came up. Dad and Sirius are like brothers and since Regulus and Sirius are brothers wouldn't that-"

" _Harry, I don't care about your father's_ _sex life._ " He shuttered at her words.

"Sorry. A lot is going through my head right now. Anyway, Draco is living here and in the room that Regulus used to sleep."

" _So it's true then? His father was hurting him?"_

"Unfortunately, yes."

_ "I never knew." _

"I think that's how it goes with stuff like this. You never really do know. I only knew because of the party."

_ "When Pansy asked you if you'd take him in." _

"Yea. Speaking of Pansy." He felt a grin crawl onto his face as he heard her groan. "Oh, what was that about? I was just gonna ask if you two were becoming friends."

" _Oh,_ haha _. You know that we're science partners._ " 

"And sometimes eat together and have gone to the movies together and talk actively when you are together."

" _Harry-"_

"Hey, I'm just laying down the facts." She groaned again and hanged the subject. 

Later that night, he was thinking. What if Padfoot never came back? Harry liked to think that he was an excellent dog dad, but that wasn't true, was it? After all, Padfoot was missing all night and he never noticed. He never imagined that he could be completely responsible for an owl that was pickier than most people he knew, but he messed up on a dog. "Harry?" He looked over to see Draco in the doorway to his bathroom. "I called your name twice already. You'vee been brushing the same teeth for five minutes straight." 

He looked at the toothbrush in his hand. All of the toothpaste was gone. He had special toothpaste because he had a fluoride deficiency- not that he knew what that meant- and the toothpaste didn't foam up like others did. He rinsed the brush and put it up, before spitting the stuff out and rinsing his mouth. He looked at Draco. His hair was still wet from his shower and he was wearing his own clothes this time. Harry smiled softly and Draco's face went pink. "Well, goodnight." He was quick to leave the room and leave Harry with a few questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about the fluoride thing: I'm trying, in a way, to make it seem like he's just another kid. A normal kid who had normal problems like that. I've been trying to add little tidbits like that to make the story more down to earth.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I only just got access to my computer which had all of my writing on it. Sorry for the delay.

Harry floated around consciousness the whole night, not quite awake, but not exactly sleeping either. He felt particularly hot like his insides were made of fire, but he wasn't exactly sweating. It seemed like he was falling in and out, sometimes fully asleep, sometimes not. He didn't even respond immediately when someone walked into the room. "Harry, it's time to get up." He couldn't pull himself to actually move. "Harry?" How long did he stay up last night? He was worried, so he didn't sleep. "Come on, Harry. Get up." He managed to groan, shifting only slightly. "Hell. I'll be back." Whoever it was had left Harry alone, so he stayed, floating in his own head. 

Soon, though, they came back and he felt someone's hands on his head in his hair before something long and thin and cold was pushed past his lips, tasting like metal. He tried his hardest to open his eyes, to move, but his body wouldn't let him. All he managed to do was shift his head and groan. A beeping filled the air, so whatever was pushed into his mouth was taken out and the person sighed. "What's going on?" Someone else asked. harry couldn't tell the difference between voices.

"He has a fever."

"How high?"

"100.8." Someone sighed and there was a sound of someone hitting the wall. 

"What can we do?"

"He can't go to school like this." 

"Let's take him downstairs so we can watch him. He'll stay home. I'll take Draco to school." That seemed to be the agreement, as his bed shifted and he was lifted into someone's arms. He groaned, trying to express his distaste for being handled like a child, but all that he was rewarded with was someone shushing him. 

When he was placed down, he wanted nothing but sleep, but someone's hands were preventing that. someone was holding his head up and something was pressed against his mouth and he groaned, trying to pull away. "Come on, Kiddo. Work with me. It's medicine. Just open your mouth, I don't want to have to touch you." Reluctantly- and with much effort, he parted his lips and his dad sighed. When the liquid passed through, he coughed at the taste and the burn in his throat. Something else was pressed to his mouth. "It's water. To wash down the taste." He drank it, almost greedily, only choking once. "You're never allowed to sleep with the window open again." His father pulled away, setting his head back gently.

* * *

 

Nothing made sense. His vision was swirling and he was nauseous. Harry opened his eye, looking around. When had he gotten to the living room? it felt like his skin was burning and his insides were lava. someone was sitting on the couch at the end. Harry lifted his head, feeling a wave of nausea at the movement. 

She looked just as pretty as the last time he had seen her. There was a sense of peace around him as she stood and walked over, sitting on the couch near his chest. "Hi, hunny." He choked on a sob, closing his eyes as she moved the hair from his face, pressing her wrist to his forehead. It didn't make him sick as usual. She clicked her tongue at what she felt. "You know, sometimes, it's like he didn't even remember that I was a nurse. I taught him how to do this."

"He's-" Harry's voice was scratchy and it hurt to talk. "He's trying his best." She laughed, throwing her head back, before looking at him. He really did have her eyes. "Mom?"

She leaned down and kissed his forehead. Before, he would have groaned and wiped his forehead from the chapstick that she always wore. It was medicinal and would make his forehead feel a kind of cold that wouldn't really go away. Now, he wanted it more than he ever realized he ever could. "You're doing so good." She mumbled against his forehead. She pulled away and started to run her thumb across his cheekbone and down his cheek before sliding her thumb back up and across his cheekbone again. "You've come far, so far." She smiled down at him. Harry never thought those words would be so comforting. "I'm so proud of you."

He put his hand on hers, holding it to his face. He needed to feel her, to know that he wasn't dreaming. "I miss you."

"I know, hunny." She sighed, pulling away from him. He closed his eyes, not able to watch her disappear again. When someone jolted his shoulder to shake him, his eyes snapped open and he saw James looking down at him. He smiled widely when Harry looked up at him. Harry felt tired, all he wanted was to sleep. 

"You're conscious. That's a plus."

"What..." He looked around, at his feet and around the room. "Where did... I wasn't..."

"You okay?" He asked, sitting down where his mom had just been sitting. "I mean, aside from getting sick."

"Mom was just..." He motioned vaguely to the area he last saw her. When he looked at his father, James was looking like he was about to cry. "Don't- don't cry." he almost begged, patting James' leg. Why did his head feel like it was hundreds of pounds? "If she comes back, I'll let you know."

"You... do that." James softly patted his hair down and Harry could feel sweat on his scalp. was he sweating? "I'm gonna get an ice pack. I'll be right back." As he stood, Harry closed his eyes.

* * *

 

He woke up dizzy and in need of something to drink. Harry moved the blanket to stand, but as soon as he put pressure on his legs, he collapsed. "Dad?" He called. No one answered, so he crawled over and used the wall to lift himself. He used the wall, guiding himself to the kitchen slowly. When Harry ran out of wall, he tried to go for the table, but lost his balance, pulling down a chair with him. Groaning, he tried to climb to at least his knees, but it wasn't working. He was too dizzy. 

He heard the someone running down the stairs and he looked up to see his father. "Oh, Harry. I'm sorry. I was upstairs." Harry choked out a laugh as his dad helped him stand. His father was only wearing pants, which was odd because he never walked around without a shirt before. 

"I noticed." James let out a laugh and walked him back to the couch. 

"What were you trying to do?"

"I'm thirsty." 

James sighed. "Right. I'll get it for you," And he walked away, walking back with a large cup of water. Harry drank greedily, feeling some slip down his cheek. When he was done James took it, putting it on the table next to the couch. He also grabbed another ice pack. His dad smiled at him. "Get some sleep. I'll be upstairs. Just yell and I'll come running." 

"What time is it?" James pulled his phone out, looking at the time. 

"It's only around ten. At noon, I'll come down and make you something to eat, alright?" Harry nodded, feeling his eyes sliding closed. His shoulder was shaken and he looked up to see James standing next to him with a bowl in his hands. When had he fallen asleep? "It's noon. I made your favourite for sick days."

"I haven't been sick since I was a child." He smiled fondly, remembering his mother helping him through the sickness, staying by his side the whole time, helping him eat and running her thumb over his cheek in an arch. He sat up, pulling his body up to be sitting on the side of the couch. James put down the bowl. It smelled like chicken soup but had other vegetables cut small which were floating around. There was more chicken than noodles, but it was just the way he liked it. 

"I also made green tea. I read that it helps." James put a mug on the table, the bottom clunking against the wooden surface. 

"Thank you." James smiled kindly, about to walk away. "Can you stay?" Harry blurted, feeling his face getting warm at the outburst. James looked at the stairs, before looking back at Harry. 

"Sure." He sat down in the recliner and pulled his feet under him, watching Harry as he ate. "Sirius is coming home soon. He went to the store for me."

"I missed him?"

"Unfortunately. If you're awake for a while, you could probably catch him." Harry nodded, bringing the spoon to his mouth. He hummed at the taste swallowing with a wince, as it was too hot. "Blow on it first, Kiddo." Harry snorted, blowing on the next spoonful. "You know, you've been out of school for five days. You're gonna have a lot to work on."

"I'm aware." He noticed a grim look on James' face. "I'll just need help is all." James nodded as Harry grabbed the mug, sipping carefully. It was still warm and the liquid warmed his throat soothingly as it slid down. 

After he ate, Harry let James take his bowl and cup. He came back with more medicine, having Harry drink it down with a gag before drinking more water. The liquid didn't help the taste much, but he drank anyway. "Get some more sleep. You'll get better in no time."

"What about Sirius?"

"After he comes home, he's home for the day, so even if you aren't awake when he gets home, he will be here when you do wake up." Harry nodded, sliding down to bury his face in the pillow. He closed his eyes as heard his dad walking away, but sleep didn't come so easily. Rather than being fully asleep, he was floating just below consciousness again. He could hear things that were happening, but he was fading in and out without really doing anything. He heard a door close, there was talking in the distance, maybe some yelling. There was clinking from the kitchen it sounded, maybe someone making food, and he heard someone singing. No, they were humming. It was like it was right next to him and he could remember the song as they hummed. He used to listen to it with his mom and dad. 

_ Would you hold my hand if I saw you in heaven? Would you help me stand if I saw you in heaven? I'll find my way through night and day 'cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven. _

He sighed, moving deeper into the pillow. He heard someone moving around in the living room. It was as if Harry was stuck between the past and the present; sometimes he was listening to his mother cook and hum and laugh at a joke that James made, sometimes he was listening to the eerie silence of the newer house, waiting for someone to make noise. He heard a clicking noise, but it could have been his imagination.

* * *

 

when he woke the next time, it was a bit darker and he wasn't alone. When he looked at the other couch, Draco was sitting there and talking- civilly and without snide comments- to Hermione. Ron was sitting behind Hermione, looking at the ceiling instead of paying attention to what the others were saying. He seemed to notice Harry was awake first, tapping Hermione's shoulder so she looked as well. They collectively ran over, Hermione making it first.

"Harry! Are you okay?" He blinked hard to keep the sleep from his eyes, putting up a thumbs up. He sat up, shifting back and looked at them. 

"Why are you here?"

"Malfoy acted like you were dying," Ron explained, "He said you were barely responsive." 

"Mr Potter thinks it might be just like the day flu," Draco mentioned. "He slept with the window open because of Padfoot." Hermione looked up at him, then back at Harry.

"What about Padfoot?"

"He got out. The night before last. I think." Harry pulled his feet up, giving someone room to sit. Hermione took it, Draco sat in the chair, and Ron stayed standing, crossing his arms. He looked from Harry to Draco. 

"So he's staying here then?"

"Yes, Ron. I thought Hermione would have told you." Ron looked at her. 

"I didn't think it was my place. I'm not one for spreading gossip." She smiled weakly, so he nodded. 

"It's okay." He looked back up at Ron. "Draco is gonna be living here until further notice." Ron squinted distrustfully at the blonde. 

"Why?" Draco tensed at his question, obviously uncomfortable with anyone else knowing about his life at home.

"Because he is." Harry snapped. "Just let it go."

"But I don't trust-"

"This isn't your house, Ron." Harry looked up surprised. Hermione had snapped at him, standing. "It doesn't matter what you think or if you trust him or not. He's not living with you, he's living with Harry." Ron's face turned angry, growing a deep red. 

"He's not trustworthy! He's made that clear from the years that he's treated us like we were scum just because we're not rich like he is."

"And you think people don't deserve redemption? He's been trying really hard to be a better person, why can't you see that?" Harry was growing a headache from all of the yelling. 

"Because I think it's some trick! He's done it before."

"Let it go, Ron! That's in the past!"

"So you're just going to forget everything he's ever done? Just because Harry wants to fuck him, everything is okay now?" Ron yelled, making Harry's face get warm. "Hell, maybe you do too! Maybe you all should just-" Whatever he was going to say, it was cut off by Hermione getting fed up and slapping him across the face. 

"Hey!" James walked in from the kitchen, looking at everyone. "What's going on?" Hermione was crying by now, her face twisted in anger. She just ignored James. 

"Who's the one who made fun of me for three years, Ron? Who's the one who always pushed me down in first grade or put dirt in my hair because I was different? All Draco ever did was use words. He never laid a hand on me, even when we were children. But I forgave you when you apologized. What makes him any different?" Harry groaned as he stood, feeling slightly dizzy. He put his hand on her shoulder. 

"Come on." He led her to the kitchen where she grabbed a paper towel. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Hermione looked at him and the anger on her face vanished. 

"Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry. You're not feeling well and this happened."

"I feel like that's been stewing around inside for a while. She surged forward, wrapping her arms around his torso. He awkwardly patted her shoulder. It wasn't until he shifted that he realized he wasn't wearing his binder. He tried not to cringe away. She ended up lifting herself off of him instead. 

"I'm sorry." He shook his head, putting his hand on her shoulder. 

"You were angry. It's understandable. If... if you don't mind me asking, what happened? When you were kids, I mean."

"Ron wasn't always nice. He used to make fun of me for having big teeth or because my hair was too bushy or-" she stopped, taking another deep breath. "I guess, he realized that he likes me or something because we became friends and he isn't like that anymore." Harry nodded. Hermione pulled him further into the kitchen and put her head down, so Harry did too. "Can I tell you something and you not tell people?"

"Well, you kind of know my biggest secret so even if I wanted to ruin our friendship and tell people, I wouldn't be able to." She snorted. 

"Well, I don't..." He looked at her when she trailed off. "I don't like people." Harry arched an eyebrow at her. "Okay, you know how you see Draco and you really want to sleep with him?"

"I do not!" He nearly yelled, then cleared his throat. 

"Harry, you have dreams about him. You totally want to sleep with him." He sighed, leaning his head to the side.

"Anyway, about you."

"Right. Well, I don't get that." She cleared her throat. "I don't look at people like that. I mean, I thought I might like girls, which is why I don't feel attracted to guys, but it doesn't happen with girls either."

"If you're not gay or straight, what are you? I mean, if you liked both, that'd be okay. I'm pretty sure my Dad likes both. Not too sure though. I think Ron might like both because he's been on dates with girls, but whenever he's around Sirius, he gets all red and blushy. But I've never heard of liking neither." She nodded, looking down, so he put a hand on her arm. "Hey, it's okay. Maybe, you just haven't found the right person, yet. Maybe you never will. Maybe there is no right person and you just don't like anyone. That's okay, too. You'll still be my best friend, regardless."

She nodded, wrapping her arms around his torso again. This was turning out to be a weird day. They walked back into the living room and Ron was sitting down on the couch. His dad was not in the room and Draco was sitting in the chair. Hermione sat in the other chair and Harry sat where his pillow was, him having to move it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not Ron bashing, I promise. It's going to lead up to something in the future.   
> If you know what I'm going for with Hermione, tell me in the comments.  
> The song mentioned was Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, to the person who read my entire story up to this point and commented on nearly every chapter, thank you so much because it was really uplifting and pleasant to read.

By the next morning, Harry was feeling much better, so he was able to go to school. James drove them. "Remember. If you need anything, just call me, I'll bring it. Be easy on yourself. I know you don't have PE today, but still, take it easy. Try not to get into any fights and bring all your work home. If I can't help, Remus probably can because I'm pretty sure he's smarter than both Sirius and I combined." When he stopped, he turned and looked at Draco. "That goes for the both of you. If you need anything, just call me, or have Harry do it. I'll come and help." Draco nodded, so they both climbed out of the car. Draco was silent while they walked through the halls to get to the cafeteria. 

He stopped, so Harry paused, looking back. "You okay?" Draco nodded, but he shook his head and walked over, sitting against the wall. "What's wrong?"

"I was just... thinking." Harry nodded, sinking down to be sitting next to him. 

"About what?"

"This. Everything. How is it that you guys just adapted to me living with you so easily?" Harry could understand where he was coming from. It was anxiety, paranoia based on how his life had been before. He was untrusting and Harry felt his chest a bit hollow. 

"It's just what we do. It was easier without Remus, but our lives got better. He just improved our existence. Just the way my dad is, you know, he just accepts people. Mom used to say that he collects friends and people in need and makes them happy again. Remus, Regulus, at one point it was Sirius. You." Harry sighed, letting his head fall on Draco's shoulder. "He just likes to see people happy."

"And you?"

"I like when you smile." Draco let out a rumbling laughter. 

"That does complicate things. Me living with you, I mean."

"How?" 

"Well, our relationship is a bit..."

"Complicated?" Harry offered.

"A bit. And that was when we weren't living together. I can't imagine that they'd let us out of their sight together. They wouldn't even let us sleep in the same room." Harry felt guilt rumbling through his chest. He thought that James and Sirius didn't trust him.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Harry assured, even though he didn't really feel that way. It just seemed like a better idea than just leaving Draco feeling miserable. "Just give it time, I guess." Draco nodded, turning to harry to smile. Harry smiled back and Draco's smile dropped. "What?" 

"Are we just not gonna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Well, the kiss for one." 

"You two kissed?" Harry jumped and turned, seeing Hermione walking up to them. She had a devious smile on her face. She sat across from them, looking from Harry to Draco. 

"Hermione," Harry pleaded, "Please."

"Not my business, right?" Harry sighed. 

"Hermione."

"Right, right." She smiled as she stood. "I'll be at the table for when you wanna come." She winked at Harry as she walked away. Harry felt his face getting warm. 

"I'm sorry." Draco looked at him, grinning. 

"I told Pansy, so it's not like I blame you." Harry felt himself chuckle. "Would it ever happen again?" Harry's heart leapt to his throat. "I really liked kissing you." Harry smiled softly. 

"I liked it as well," Harry confirmed, not looking at Draco's face. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "We should..."

"Yea." Harry stood, walking with Draco to the room, then to the table. Hermione was watching them with an eyebrow arched. Harry rolled his eyes and sat next to her. Harry looked up when the door opened to see Ron walking in, but he walked past the table and Harry didn't watch him walking behind them. 

"What's wrong with him? It still can't be about yesterday, can it?"

"I think it is," Hermione explained, a grim look on her face. Harry sighed, taking his bag off to stand. "Where are you going?"

"Breakfast." He mentioned, pointing toward the door. 

"Can you get me one?"

"Can I get your orange juice?" She grimaced. 

"You know that stuff is mostly water?" He grinned. 

"But it's orange flavoured water." She laughed out loud, covering her mouth again. 

"Okay, you get my orange juice if I get your milk." He nodded, walking through the room. Draco followed. 

"Do you want my orange juice, too?" He asked as they entered. 

"Won't you want it?" Draco shook his head, grabbing his tray. They were styrofoam and flimsy, so Harry had to hold it with both hands. 

"I don't really like juice that much. It's more of a drink that just happens to be there, so I'll drink it." Harry looked at him, smiling. 

"I can just drink the juice so you can have something of mine." They walked out, to see the girl from before Harry was suspended standing at the table. Her hands were on the table as she looked down at Hermione, who seemed to be ignoring her. Harry walked over, sitting down. "You okay, Hermione?" She looked up, as if nothing was strange, looking right at Harry. 

"Hm? Oh, yea. Our friend here just asked if we were dating, to which I replied it was none of her business. She doesn't seem to think that is a good enough answer."

"Why does it even matter?" Harry asked, looking up at her. He still never caught her name, but he was sure he didn't want to know. She scoffed and walked away, so Harry handed Hermione her tray, taking the orange juice and giving the milk. 

In science, they started to put together all of the research that they did. It was going to be a presentation. Draco and he seemed to have a silent agreement that Draco would do the research and Harry would put it together on poster board. 

"So I have these." Draco handed over his notebook, and Harry looked down. His writing was small and precise, neatly written as if he took extra time to copy it. There were facts about the appearance, habitat, food, and activities. "We're gonna need a few pictures, so how about I draw them and you colour them?"

"You already did all this work. Why don't I draw them?" Draco looked away, sheepish.

"I can't colour very well. I like drawing better." Harry nodded, feeling that familiar heat rise to his cheeks. 

"Okay. I'll colour them." He looked down at the notebook. "This can't be too hard, right?" Draco nodded. When class was over, Harry and Hermione walked to Math. Harry had a lot of work to do in all of his classes and was almost at the point of praying when lunch finally came. He sat down next to Hermione, leaning on his hand. Harry jumped when a hand came down in front of him, putting a paper down. 

Following the arm up, he noticed that Cedric was attached to it. "Hello." Harry looked down to see one of the missing posters that Sirius and Remus had put up over the entire town.

"He's yours, right?" Harry looked up and nodded. Cedric pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed Harry. Padfoot was on it, curled up with a smaller dog, Harry couldn't tell what it was. "We found him the other day. I was gonna talk to you about it yesterday, but you weren't there."

"You have him?" Cedric nodded. Harry wanted to hug him and never let him go. "S- so can you bring him to my house?" He nodded. Harry grinned and his mood was lifted from there. 

In art class, he was working when someone walked up to the table. Sitting up, he looked over to see Parvati Patil standing there. She was wearing her hair in a braid and had a folder in her hands. "Yes?"

"Well, last Friday, there was a student meeting about diversity." He raised an eyebrow. "Well, it wasn't intended to be about diversity. That's just where it went to. Because everyone's been talking about how you stood up to people who were being rude. It's just a group of students from each year and colour class getting together and meeting about things. Like, a youth group. I was tasked with asking people in my classes, but you weren't here."

"You want me to join?" 

"You would make a great addition to the group." His eyes flicked to Hermione, who was watching as well. 

"When?"

"Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after school."

"I can't do it on Wednesdays." She smiled brightly, her teeth looking perfectly straight and white. 

"That's okay. So Can I sign you up for Monday and Friday then?" 

"How about we just try for Friday and see how it goes? If it works out, I'll consider coming back."

* * *

 

That is a weird looking creature," James explained as he looked over Draco's shoulder. He was drawing it at the table while Harry did his work. Remus was off today, so he was with Sirius in the living room, listening to music. Regulus was on the other side of the table, as apparently, he was good at math and history, so Harry would have helped if needed. 

"It's a duck-billed platypus. We're doing it for the project." James hummed. 

"Well, it's good. I think. I don't know what one looks like regularly to make a comparison."

"Remus has a book about them," Harry explained. "Honestly, I don't think there's a book he doesn't have." Regulus chuckled as Harry went back to his work. A thought came over Harry and he sat up straight. Standing, Harry cleared his throat. "I'll be back."

He walked into the living room to see Remus laying on the couch with Sirius laying his head on his chest. He was laying across him, his fingers tracing lines into Remus' chest. Sirius noticed Harry first, looking up.

"What's up, kid?" He pointed to Remus, so Sirius tapped his chest, causing him to open his eyes. 

"Harry?" He smiled awkwardly. 

"Do you have any books on things like... you know... like gender? Or even about sexuality?" Sirius smiled at Remus.

"And here, I thought you had this whole thing figured out."

"I don't. But it's not for me." Remus looked down at Sirius, whose eyebrows rose. Sirius shrugged, standing so Remus could stand. Together, they walked down to the basement. Harry waited while Remus looked through the books. Harry watched Remus. He was wearing his usual cardigan, but his sleeves were rolled up, exposing his scars. He never asked Remus, or even Sirius, why he did it. Just like he never asked Sirius why he went to prison in the first place. 

It just seemed like there were lines to some people and you don't cross them. Especially in this family. Harry knew- at least a little bit- about depression. James had explained it when Remus moved in with them. Sometimes, people can't control their emotions. Sometimes, people get sad and it doesn't go away so easily. He never really thought about it. 

Harry figured that if Remus wanted to talk about it, he would. That didn't prevent Harry from feeling bad about never asking him if he was okay and happy. Once, before they moved, he walked in on Remus and Sirius sitting together. Sirius was sitting in Remus' lap, his fingers running over the skin of Remus' arm. Remus seemed to be asleep, so Harry tried to sneak away, but Sirius told him to come closer. One of the cuts was bleeding. He's gonna be okay, Sirius confirmed, using his thumb to wipe up a line of blood before wiping it on a towel. The towel had spots of red and brown. When Harry asked if he got hurt again, Sirius just shook his head. It's just the newest one. It's still healing, so it happens sometimes. Harry nodded and sat with Sirius for a while.

"Also, do you have any books about... like... mental stuff?" Remus tensed and guilt swirled through Harry's chest. 

"Why do you ask?" Remus looked down at him, a book in hand. 

"I- I just..." He sighed. He didn't have any excuses. "I just wanted to know more about it. I'm terribly misinformed and I wanted to fix that." Remus' face grew soft and he smiled slightly, reaching up to pull another book down. He seemed almost reluctant to give the books over, but did, so Harry thanked him and walked straight to his room, placing them on the desk. When the doorbell rang, he ran down the stairs and threw it open expecting to see Cedric, but only Narcissa was in the doorway. Harry deflated, opening the door the remainder of the way, letting her in. 

"Am I not welcome?" James had told Harry that every few days, she would come and visit Draco to see if he needed anything and to spend time with him. Draco was happy about it and Harry could tell that he really loved his mother.

"Yea, sorry Mrs Malfoy. I'm just waiting for someone. Draco's in the kitchen." Sirius was sitting on the couch and looked at her as she cleared her throat. She acknowledged Sirius for a moment, smiling softly at him. Harry thought that he was missing something big between them, but he couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was an inside joke or something secret? Maybe a family secret? They have related after all. 

Harry thought for a moment how coincidental it was that Harry's family moved away from their town into the exact town where Draco's family lived. Why didn't they live in the original town like everyone else in their family? His thoughts were interrupted when Draco walked into the room. He looked between her and Harry.

"I came to see that you were getting along with everything you need. It seems that you are given adequate living conditions." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Now, I hear that you have a rather large room?" She and Draco walked up the stairs, leaving Harry to stare openly at Sirius, wondering what that look was about. He looked up at Sirius, who seemed to be looking everywhere but Harry's face, which made the whole event even more mysterious. The doorbell rang again, so Harry numbly walked over, answering it, only to be tackled to the ground. Harry laughed out loud, rubbing his hands into black fur while his face was licked over and over again. 

"So, yes." Cedric mentioned from the doorway, "He does this with everyone." Harry laughed out loud, coughing when Padfoot's tongue touched his lip. He pressed his lips together very tightly as Padfoot licked his face. Sirius was the one to save him, bringing out the treats so Padfoot would get off.

Cedric ended up having to leave, letting Harry play with Padfoot until Draco and his mother came back down. It was much too cold outside, so Harry was just running around the house with Padfoot. He didn't even know that Draco was done until he was running after Padfoot and fell, hearing him snort out a laugh. Harry stood, looking at him. "So how was your visit?"

"It was well." He was tense, though. Harry noticed almost immediately that he was blushing a bit and wouldn't look Harry in the eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending scene was originally much different when I first wrote it, but I changed it to have that part later. Also, someone mentioned a friendship between the Parvati twins and Harry, so I started to incorporate that into it, but it isn't going to come as quickly as one might hope because of the more prevalent plotline. Rest assured, though, it will happen.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't actually gonna upload this chapter yet, but I changed my mind. I'm not gonna have a stable internet for a while so my updates will be a bit spread out for a while, but I have my computer (not sure how long that's gonna last) so I will at least be writing. I'm also gonna add a few tags, but leave most of them out because of spoilers.

Harry was sitting across from Draco in art, while Harry waited for the call. Being Wednesday, he knew that soon, he would be called to the office. Bored since his art project was already done, he reached over and pulled Draco's sleeve to pull his hand closer. Picking one of the markers that Hermione was using beside him, he uncapped it and started to draw on the back of Draco's hand.

Two ears, two eyes, a squiggle for the mouth, and six whiskers later, a bunny was drawn on the back of Draco's hand. Hermione made a snorting sound, so Harry looked over. "What?"

"It's so cute. Do you just not draw the head or anything? Just the face?"

"Maybe." She laughed out loud again.

"You know, if you use hairspray, it'll say there like a temporary tattoo." Draco grew an inspired look and nodded. The phone at the teacher's desk rang, so Harry began to pick his things up.

"Harry?" He looked at her, nodding and continued to pack. "Draco, you, too." He stood up, tense.

"Why?"

"They called for you as well." He rushed to pick up his things and Harry waved at Hermione before turning and walking with Draco out the door. When at the office, James stood up and walked over.

"You boys ready?" Draco was silent as they walked. Harry climbed in the back, so Draco did, too. "I can't do this every single week because I have a doctors excuse for Harry, but I figured you'd appreciate it at least this once." The ride was relatively quiet, music playing softly in the background. Harry barely noticed as he watched the city moving. When they pulled up to the building, everyone stepped out of the car. On the way in, James put his hand on Draco's shoulder. "You'll have to stay with me while he's in there." Draco nodded, sitting down. It wasn't long until Dr Pomfrey walked out of her office. She smiled at Harry, so he stood and walked with her, looking back at James before the door closed. Harry sat down.

"Sorry, we could not meet last week." Harry just waved her off. "Who was that with your father?" She asked, sitting behind the desk.

"Draco. He's gonna be living with us for a while."

"Why?" Harry swallowed. "Everything here stays here." He nodded. He didn't understand why he constantly needed to be told that.

"His father is- was- mean to him. That mark on his face-" She nodded, looking down. "His mother thought that he would be best somewhere safe."

"And she chose your house?"

"Well, she and Sirius are related, from what I understand." She nodded again.

"Tell me about Draco."

"What about him?"

"Let's start with: have you touched him?" Harry felt his face getting warm. "So that's a yes." He looked up to see a soft smile on her face.

"Y- yea."

"Did you do it like you practised?" Harry nodded.

"He- I... we kissed." Her face became very brightly and she smiled widely.

"That's wonderful. How did your father react?"

"He doesn't know. Sirius does, but it was more like he was sad that I had my first kiss rather than happy that I could touch people." She nodded along to what he was saying.

* * *

 

Harry walked out of the room feeling weirder than he had when he walked in. When he walked out, she actually wanted to talk to Draco for a moment, as long as James was okay with it. He nodded, so Draco walked in and Harry sat next to his father. It was silent for a moment before James let out a yawn.

Harry looked up at him. "Didn't you sleep last night?" James looked down, smiling.

"I've just been a bit tired lately. It's okay." Harry noticed how he answered a question that he didn't ask, but didn't feel like going into further detail. He wasn't all that curious at the moment. When the door opened again, she called in James, so Draco walked out and sat next to Harry.

"What did she say?" Harry asked as he adjusted himself in his seat. He wasn't used to sitting in the waiting room for so long.

"We'll talk about it later." Harry nodded, laying his head back. It's another few moments before his dad walked out, ushering them out the door.

"She wants to meet everyone in the house. She said that the people around can either help or hinder your recovery process." Harry nodded, unsure how it could actually help, but not questioning it.

When they made it home, Harry walked straight to his room, pulling off his uniform and binder, slipping on his most comfortable clothes. With sleep pants and a sweater on, he walked downstairs to get something to eat. He settled with another sandwich and a bottle of water. Walking to the living room, he sat down on the couch and turned the TV on. There wasn't much to watch and it was only really there as background noise. Harry never really liked watching TV. Only when he was sick or had nothing better to do. Pulling the blanket off of the back of the couch, he settled in and pretended to watch a Christmas movie.

A few moments later, Draco walked down and looked between him and the TV. Shrugging, Draco sat down next to Harry and watched in silence as well. Harry adjusted his body again, giving Draco room to shift over and sit closer. "So, are you going to tell me what my doctor wanted from you yet?"

"She just asked me some questions about our relationship and said that I would be a great person for you to work on being able to touch people since you already trust me enough to kiss me." Harry felt his face getting warm as a smile crept up on his face. "So, I've been watching for five minutes. Do you have any idea what this movie is about?"

"I wasn't paying attention." Draco was laughing and Harry decided he particularly enjoyed that sound.

* * *

 

Sitting at the table during lunch, Harry watched Hermione painting her nails. "Why do you do that?" Hermione just shrugged, painting her thumb black.

"It's just something to do." He nodded in understanding. Hermione looked up, inspired. "Do you want me to paint your nails?" He sat up straight. He'd never really thought about it. Harry usually had no desire for things like that, but at that moment, he wanted nothing else.

"Sure." He put his hand on the table as she grinned widely. He watched, mesmerized as she pulled the polish brush down his nail, covering the surface. As she worked her way down his nails, he watched with rapt attention. He put his other hand on the table so she went to it as soon as she was done.

Someone sat next to him. Draco looked at his hand. "You're okay with that?" Harry looked up.

"Yea. What's wrong with it?"

"Isn't painted nails a girl thing?" Harry looked into his eyes.

"For girls or not, if I want pretty nails and I have someone to do it for me, I'm gonna have pretty nails." Draco turned a bit pink and looked away. "Why don't you try it?" He asked, which made Draco shake his head.

"I'm sure that she won't want to paint my nails."

"I don't mind." She mentioned, reaching into her bag. "I have other colours, too. Blue, red, pink, green, and pastel yellow and pink. I'll bring them tomorrow." Draco looked like he wasn't sure if he was excited or scared. Harry put his hand carefully on Draco's arm so not to smudge the paint and squeezed lightly.

"If you don't want to, that's okay. If you want to, there's nothing wrong with that and it's okay, too." Hermione pulled out another bottle which was clear. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"It's a clear coat so it lasts longer." Harry nodded, putting his hands out again. when she was done, he let them dry again before holding them up to his face, showing Draco.

"Isn't it pretty?" Draco just gave an awkward chuckle.

* * *

 

James was sitting down watching the movie with Regulus leaning on his side. His fingers were laced into Regulus' hair, petting softly. He wondered how they became like this, but it wasn't really on the top of his mind. He just noticed how nice it felt to have someone's heat against his side.

He jumped when the phone rang out of nowhere. At the second ring, Regulus looked up at him. "Aren't you going to get that?" James sighed.

"If it's important, they'll call back." Regulus looked away, his face turning a pretty pink colour. He smiled and laid his head back, feeling Regulus relax into his side. He tried to pay attention to the movie, but Regulus was shifting beside him. He had to think of where the other housemates were. Remus was at the library working, where was Sirius? He said something about his bike, so he was probably gone, right?

His thoughts were halted immediately when he felt Regulus shifting, throwing a leg over his lap so that he was straddling James. "Oh," He looked up. The other had a tendency to not show many emotions. He was usually very collected, so this was a nice change. He leaned forward, looking into Regulus' sharp grey eyes.

James closed his eyes and sighed when the phone rang again. Regulus chuckled. "You did say that if they called back it would be important." James sighed, helping Regulus stand and walking to the phone. He noticed that he was being followed.

When he picked up the phone, he asked, "Hello?"

"James Potter?" He knew very well what the school secretary sounded like. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"What happened with Harry this time?" She cleared her throat.

"Mr's Malfoy are both in your custody, correct?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?" As she spoke, he felt the blood fall from his face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'll be right there." He hung up the phone just as he heard someone coming up the stairs. From the kitchen, Sirius appeared.

"What happened?" He asked, taking off his jacket. James looked at Sirius for a long time, not sure how to even begin. "Jamie?"

"Harry and Draco... they got into a fight."

"What?" Sirius asked, dropping the rag he had in his hand. "What do you mean? With each other?"

"I- I don't know. I was just told they were involved in a fight." Sirius put his jacket back on and grabbed the keys. The whole trip to the school was silent. To make sure there was room- they were no doubt suspended again- Regulus had to stay home. At the school, in the office, he saw Draco holding something to Harry's eye. He also had a split lip. Harry's eyes were harder than James had ever seen them. Draco himself had a cut on his cheek. Beside them, a boy was there who also had a broken lip. He was talking and looking around nervously. Draco was switching between talking to the other boy and holding what he guessed was an ice pack to Harry's eye.

Mr Dumbledore walked out of his office, gaining James' attention. He walked over. "What happened?"

"This time, there was no one to mix up a story, at least."

"This isn't a joking matter. Tell me what happened to my son." His face was grave and he motioned to the office. James didn't even sit.

"From what we've been told from multiple witnesses and from the three boys, this is what we know. The other boy, Neville, had an altercation with a student. Neville was just ignoring the other student, but he persisted. Harry, it seemed, decided to walk over and tell the other student to leave him alone. Foul words were shared, most of them from the other student. When he mentioned something about Harry's apparent sexuality, Harry told him to shut up, so he shoved Harry.

"It was described by Neville that the other boy, who shoved Harry's chest, looked at his hands for a moment, but before he could speak, Harry lashed out." James covered his mouth, feeling the blood leave his face again. "That was when Mr Malfoy stepped in. He tried to keep the other boy and Harry separated but ended up getting caught in the crossfire. It took two teachers, Mr Malfoy and Mr Longbottom to separate the two. After, Harry leaned over and... threw up on the floor. Has this ever happened before?"

"No. Harry's never gotten into an argument before."

"While it is in self-defence, he still needs to be punished by the school system. The boy who started it was reprimanded and his punishment is getting carried out."

"Which is?" Sirius asked.

"Two weeks suspension and another week on internal suspension. Harry is going to only get five days. It's the minimum allowed for fighting. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but there's no other choice."

"And Draco?" James asked.

"As he was trying to stop the fight, he will not be punished. Neither will Mr Longbottom." Sirius walked out the room, so James stayed and talked to Dumbledore. "You are free to take both Harry and Draco home. Neville's guardian is on her way as well." He nodded, standing.

James walked to the door, looking at the handle. It was round like a ball but was flat where the switch for the lock was. Looking through the window, he noticed Sirius crouched in front of Harry. That was probably a really bad moment for him, because not only did he get into his first ever fight, but he threw up all over in front of all those people. James debated for a moment before locking the door. He walked back to the man, putting his hands on the desk.

"Mr Potter?"

"I was told when I brought my son to this school that there would be no problems. Harry had never, never gotten into a fight before. He is a peaceful child. Since he's been here, he's been in here three times. He never starts these fights. He's only ever defended himself. Were you lying when you said that this was a healthy environment?" Dumbledore looked at him, his eyes looking soft while the rest of his face was nearly impassive.

"I did not lie, no."

"Then why, in this healthy environment of accepting people, does my son have a black eye?"

"He was in a fight, Mr Potter."

"Why, if this is such a peaceful, healthy place?"

"Mr Potter-"

"What are you doing to stop this? You keep acting like you're such a responsible person, but what have you done to stop this from happening?"

"I understand what you're saying, but-"

"If this bullshit doesn't stop, if people keep making my son have to defend himself, I will pull him out of school. I'll homeschool him. Remus is capable if I'm not. If this shit doesn't stop, I'll pull him out. If I have to pull my son out of school, away from a proper education, you will not hear the end of it. I will make personal care in making sure that you are stripped from your title and you will never get a job in this town again." His eyes lost their humour, looking cold and calculating, a look that didn't seem right on such a kind face. "Do you understand?" Dumbledore nodded, so James walked out, unlocking the door before throwing it open, hearing it slam against the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sort of OOC and the fact that everything keeps going wrong for Harry, but that part (and a few others that won't exactly be obvious) was vital to something that's going to happen in the future because I have an entire book planned out in my head.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't had an internet connection in a few days, so I couldn't update even though I really wanted to. The next few chapters aren't going to be like the rest. It's hard to explain, but you'll just have to read and find out. There's also going to be a word that I hate, and I'm sorry for using it, but it's not directly insulting anyone.  
> *Edit: There's a pretty high chance that my computer is gonna be completely erased and I have at least 10 chapters on it and all that progress will be lost. I'll update again when I get more information.

When Harry got home, he walked straight to his room.  When he was able to breathe, he pulled on a tank top and a long-sleeved shirt and pulled on soft pants before walking downstairs. Draco was laying on the floor in the living room. He hadn't changed out of his uniform yet. Harry walked over, laying down next to the blonde. He looked at Draco. From here, he couldn't see the cut on Draco's lip, but the one on his face was on this side. 

"Are you okay? Like, are you better?" Harry nodded, then realized that Draco probably couldn't see it as he was looking up. 

"Yea. I'm sorry about your face." Draco chuckled. Harry imagined that he could still feel Draco's cheek against his elbow. 

"Harry?" He looked over again to see Draco looking at him. "Why did you do it?" Harry felt a lump in his throat. "Why did you... attack him?"

"He pushed me first."

"He pushed you, Harry. He didn't attack you or touch your skin or anything like that." 

"Does it matter? It's over. I can't take it back. I puked all over the floor and everyone saw." Draco sighed, looking forward again. 

"I guess it really doesn't, but I didn't think you'd ever hurt someone for something like shoving you."

"And messing with Neville, and calling me a fag for painting my nails." Draco flinched at the word. "And messing with Neville about his parents. Who even does that?" Draco looked at Harry again, but Harry didn't look down. 

"His parents?"

"I don't know. But Neville looked really upset with what they were saying. Something about his parents. I didn't think he wanted anyone to know. I knew he wouldn't do anything about the dude, but it didn't seem like anyone else was going to step up."

"It's not your job to stand up for everyone."

"If no one else would-"

"It's not your job, Harry."

"No one else would. If I'm gonna be the only person to stand up for someone, then so be it. I'm not going to let him just suffer."

"Why?" Harry wiped down his face, sighing. 

"When my mother died, everyone kept asking me about it in school. I was still upset about it when I had to go back. We were talking about this story where a mother was involved for reading and I cried. Eventually, it grew to people making fun of me for missing my own damn mother. All the memories plus all those students messing with me, we just had to move." That wasn't the only reason they had to move, but Draco didn't need to know. "They were messing with him about something with his parents and I didn't want him to deal with that." 

Draco turned over, facing Harry. He supported his head by his hand, but Harry stayed down. "I'm sorry." He mentioned. "I didn't know."

"It's in the past. Nothing we can do to change it." Draco had a soft smile on his face. Harry watched Draco's eyes flick down his face. When Harry licked his lips, Draco's face started to turn pink. Harry took a calming breath, before pulling himself up on his elbows. Now that his face was were inches from Draco's, he could feel Draco's breath against his face. Draco's eyes looked at his face, before flicking away. When his eyes flicked to the direction of the doorway, he sat up entirely, making Harry's chest feel kind of hollow. 

"Did you two eat lunch, or did Harry go Hulk before that could happen?" He turned, seeing Sirius in the doorway. Realizing his mistakes- thinking that Draco didn't want to kiss him and almost kissing him when Sirius was in the room- he felt his face going hot. 

"I ate," Draco mentioned. "Harry was getting his nails painted." Sirius' brows creased, so Harry lifted his hands. 

"Hermione did it."

"And you let her?"

"She made sure not to touch me. I think it's cool." Sirius gave a small smile before motioning towards the kitchen. 

"I'm making sandwiches." Harry climbed to his feet, his vision going a bit fuzzy for a moment. Shaking it off, he walked in with Draco. Remembering Hermione because of the nails, Harry remembered the book. 

"I'll be back." He ran upstairs, grabbing the book and fleeing back to the kitchen. 

"What's that?" Sirius asked as Harry sat down. He handed Harry a sandwich- turkey and cheese- as he talked. "Isn't that one of the books you asked Remus for?"

"Yea. I wanted to look into stuff. For a friend."

"Can you tell me who the friend is?" Harry took a large bite of the sandwich, shaking his head. "Can you tell me what you're looking for?" Harry shook his head again. Sirius sighed. "You know I can help with this stuff."

"I want to try it on my own. But if I need your help, I can ask." Harry opened the book, careful of the crumbs from the bread. It was cut into four sections: Sexuality, gender, romances, and the difference between sexuality and romance. Harry didn't figure it was that hard to distinguish between romance and sexuality, but if it was in a book, the difference was probably important. 

He looked at sexuality first. He knew some things about it, but not much. He never really looked into it before. He knew about gay and lesbian, those were the most known ones. There were also ones that Harry had never heard of like pansexual and demisexual. He knew some things about bisexuality, but not much. One thing that stuck out, however, was asexual. Having no sexual attraction. He thought about what Hermione had said, about not liking anyone. There was also demisexual, which meant that the person would have to have a strong bond with someone before being attracted to them. 

Just for curiosity, Harry looked at genders. This was much more complicated than he originally figured. The book talked about how there are some people who didn't believe that there are any more than two genders. He was called trans-masculine- which Harry found particularly amusing. There were people that don't fit into either gender, people who fit into both, and people that just don't know. 

Romances were another list where he was learning. While someone can be sexually attracted to one type of person, they can be romantically attracted to another. Same with sexualities, someone can be panromantic, demiromantic, biromantic, and even aromantic. He'd have to talk to Hermione more to get better details.

Harry finished his sandwich and cleaned up his mess. "I'll be in my room," He mentioned vaguely before running up the stairs. He spent the rest of the time reading about each sexuality and gender and romantic attraction. Later, when his phone rang, he picked it up, putting it against his ear. "Hello?"

"Harry?" Hermione's voice asked.

"That's who I am. At least I hope so. Maybe I've actually been dead for a hundred years and I'm possessing the body of someone named Harry. I just can't tell the difference."

"Harry." She said flatly. 

"Yea, sorry. Why'd you call?"

"Well, you got suspended again."

"I punched a kid in the face and threw up at him, Hermione. I'd actually die if I wasn't suspended."

"You did more than punch him in the face."

"Either way, I'm not gonna be in school for a while. I bet with my record they think I'm some kind of gangster. Always fighting and getting into trouble." She chuckled at that. "Who knows, maybe I'm one suspension away from being on some kind of list." He waited while she laughed.

"I can see this isn't bothering you so much."

"It was a bit stressful at first because throwing up, I wasted all that good processed food they feed us, but now it's not so bad. I brushed my teeth as soon as I got home."

"That's good."

"Remember when you told me about you not liking anyone?"

"Yea?"

"I have a book about stuff like that so if you'd want to answer questions, I could look it up. Or you could come over and look at it yourself."

"Where'd you get a book like that?"

"Remus' library," He had to shift ears. "I would honestly be surprised if he didn't have a book like this."

"I could probably be by tomorrow." She mentioned, "I could probably get my mom to let me stay the night."

"But I won't be going to school tomorrow."

"Draco will."

"Okay, yea, that makes sense. I'll have to ask my dad." They talked aimlessly until someone knocked on Harry's door about an hour later. "Someone's at my door, I'll talk later."

"Good luck." Harry closed his phone and stood, feeling his joints cracking. Walking over, he opened the door to see Draco standing there. 

"Yes?"

"You've been here all day. I wanted to- to make sure you're okay." He mumbled. "I mean, you're in your room so of course, you'd be okay. But your eye and stress..." He trailed off.

"I'm fine. I was talking to Hermione."

"I know. Or... I heard through the door. Not- not that I was just listening, I just happened to come to your door and hear you. It would be kind of weird to just stand there listening-"

"Draco."

"Huh?"

"If you're going to ramble on, would you at least like to come in?" He turned a bit pink and nodded, walking in. He sat awkwardly on Harry's bed. "Why are you acting so..." Harry waved his hand vaguely, looking for the word. It wouldn't be vacant. Strained? Uptight? "Nervous?"

"I- uh..." Harry closed his door, walking over to sit next to Draco, who wouldn't look at Harry. He raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out why Draco was acting like this. 

"Just say it, Draco."

"We were gonna kiss." He blurted out, his ears turning pink as well. Thinking about it, they were. Not that it had any reason not to think about it. It only happened a few hours ago. Harry shifted on the bed. 

"Yea?" When Draco's eyes flicked to his face, nervousness settled in the bottom of his stomach. Harry instinctively licked his lips and Draco's eyes followed that movement with his eyes.

"We couldn't. Because of Sirius. In the room."

"You want to try again?" Draco looked away biting his bottom lip which made something stir in Harry's belly. He wondered if that was normal because it sure didn't seem like it was. Harry took a deep breath to steady his heartbeat, before grabbing Draco's sleeve, pressing his eyes closed as tight as he could before pulling Draco in. When their lips touched, Harry had to try hard not to open his eyes. It was a challenge because he wanted to see Draco's face because he wasn't moving, but he didn't want to get sick again. 

At the feeling of Draco's hands touching his face, he flinched but relaxed as best he could. Draco held his face in both hands and Harry's body twisted as Draco's lips started to move again. He hummed at the sensation it left him and he felt Draco's hands tense for a moment. Draco pulled away a fraction. "Can- can you open your mouth?"

"Why?" He asked, not daring to open his eyes because Draco's hands fell to his neck and his thumbs were rubbing patterns into his skin.

"You've never..."

"I couldn't touch anyone at all until a few weeks ago." He expected Draco to answer his question, or maybe laugh at his inexperience, but Draco surged forward again, kissing roughly against his lips to which a noise fell from Harry's throat.

"Just- just-" It was like Draco was having trouble deciding between talking and kissing. "Just trust me?" He did trust Draco, so he did. When he felt something wet touch his lip. he jerked away at the unusual feeling. Shaking off the shock of Draco having basically licked him, Harry leaned forward again. When Draco did it again, he flinched but didn't pull away. 

Harry yelped when Draco grabbed his hips, pulling him into his lap. When they settled, Harry felt something warm and hard against him and heat rose to his face. He wondered if Draco knew that he was... like that... but assumed that since it was his body, he could feel it himself. When he started to slide his hands into the back of Harry's shirt, the only thought that occurred to him was that he was glad he didn't have his binder on so he didn't have to answer questions. The fog over his brain meant that he really didn't have the compacity to answer anything anyways. 

Everything was fine until Draco's hands started to scale up his back and to the sides of his chest. Panic was the only thing that registered in his mind making his body act on its own. He jerked away, his body falling painfully to the floor. Instinct had him using his arms to cover his chest, feeling exposed as his eyes opened. 

He looked up at Draco, his face pink and his lips puffy, but his expression was twisted in confusion. "Harry?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it was..." He didn't have a definite answer that didn't expose him. If Draco knew he was trans, would he be disgusted? Draco likes boys, right? Did that mean that Draco wouldn't like him when he knows? Harry looked away from Draco's confused face. "I- I need you to leave. My room, I mean. I need you to leave my room." 

Draco's hands squeezed into fists and Harry thought for a fleeting moment that Draco would hit him, but the blonde just stood and adjusted his clothes before walking to the door. He stopped before turning. "I'll-" His voice was thick and made Harry's body tingle even now. "I'll be in my room." Harry nodded so he left, closing the door behind him. Harry didn't leave the room for the whole day, Sirius bringing dinner to him which he didn't eat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I wrote any info wrong, let me know and I'll fix it ASAP.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I'm writing on my phone now! It's gonna be slow and won't be as good Grammer wise, but I hope you'll forgive that until I can get back with a computer. I've been waiting for this chapter for so long now and it's good to finally get it. It actually went much differently before I lost everything including a huge fight among other things, but I like this one better.

Harry waited until the front door opened and closed for the second time the next morning to move. He'd been tossing and turning all night and barely managed to sleep for more than an hour. When Harry heard someone walking up the stairs and another door closed, He knew James had gone to his room. He stood and stretched, feeling exhausted. He wanted to put off going anywhere incase he had to explain why he was awake so early, but hunger won off that mental argument. 

In the kitchen, Sirius was being pressed into the counter by Remus and he was pretty sure Remus was trying to steal his breath with a kiss. Sirius was obviously in on this because he was smiling into the kiss. Remus’ fingers were running up and down Sirius’ sides but he was pretty sure that wasn't why Sirius was giggling against his lips. Harry waited for them to break apart but it never happened so he walked over and made a show of opening the refrigerator door. Harry turned around as they separated. “Oh, don't mind me. Keep making gross kissing noises in the kitchen when you have a very obvious bedroom upstairs.” Sirius snorted as Remus turned away, his face red. 

“You're a little shit, you know that?” Sirius laughed. Harry gave a mock salute and watched as the two walked to the stairs. Harry prepared cereal and ate in silence. He wondered if this was what they did every time they were gone. Usually he wasn't up until around ten on days he stayed home so that gave them four hours to make out in the kitchen and do… whatever it is that his father and Regulus do. Back upstairs, Harry looked at his desk for the work he had to do when he noticed the book again. He was weighed with the options of going to ask his father about Hermione or doing school work which would be done quickly leaving him bored for the next six days.

He chose to ask if Hermione could come. Harry walked up the next flight of stairs. He didn't want to wake his father or disturb him, but he needed to ask. Knocking lightly, he reasoned that if James was awake he would hear it but if he wasn't, it wouldn't bother him. At a noise behind the door, Harry opened it with the thought that someone responded. He was wrong.

Opening the door he realized someone did in fact make a noise, but based on the fact that James was over Regulus kissing his life away with a hand up his shirt, it wasn't the kind of noise that was affirming. When Regulus started to reach for James’ belt, Harry’s throat let out a strange noise of his own, slamming the door closed. He retreated to his room immediately as everything was slotting together in his head. The casual touches and soft smiles, how suspicious Sirius was- oh god, how ruffled they both looked all the time, James always looking tired. 

Harry wasn't sure how to cope with this. It wasn't a bad thing, per se, just shocking. And a bit gross. James wasn't supposed to have a boyfriend. He was supposed to grow old and lonely living in a house alone with decorative cat figurines all around the house, each having a different name and backstory. He told Lily his plans personally. Would she… would she approve of it? Harry reasoned that as long as James was happy, she wouldn't care. 

“Hey, Kid. You in there?” Harry opened the door to reveal Sirius. “What happened?” Harry felt his face get warm. 

“I accidentally walked in on Dad-”

“Oh, Harry, I'm sorry you had to see that.” Harry deflated, relieved. Sirius knew, at least. “Are you gonna need your brain scrubbed or something?” Harry gave a tired chuckle.

“No, I'll just repress the memory until I'm in my late forties and remember every little thing that was weird in my life.” Sirius laughed, using the wall to keep himself standing. 

“That is pretty weird, isn't it?” Harry nodded, but remembered why he went upstairs in the first place. 

“Can Hermione come today? I know the answer will be yes, but it's kind of courteous to ask. She'll also be staying the night.” 

“Yea, I think it'll be fine. There's only a half day today so they'll be back around one.” Harry nodded again, watching Sirius walk back to his room. Harry retreated back to his room and started working on his school work. Since science and History were easiest for him, he saved those for last. Math was first, taking almost three hours to complete for the week. After that, he worked on life science before he was too hungry to ignore. 

Standing with another stretch, he started on his way downstairs where the kitchen was occupied with adult children. Based on the bread on the table and floor and the various types of meat on the table, one would think they were making sandwiches, but according to the condiments all over every surface, it was actually a race to see who could get more color on the white walls. The mayonnaise wasn't doing much for that, but the ketchup was working wonders. Harry walked a bit closer, only for Sirius to turn on him, squirting spicy brown mustard all over his shirt. Harry just sighed, running a finger through the mess and walking over, spreading it across Sirius’ face getting it in the piercings in his ear. Remus burst out laughing. Harry then scooped up a bit of Ketchup off Sirius’ shirt and spread it across Remus’ face. 

“Can I make food now?” Sirius had to leave the room he was laughing so hard and Remus was sitting so he could. Against himself, Harry cracked a smile. “I actually need to change first unless I want to smell like spiced yellow goo for the rest of my life. 

Walking back upstairs, Harry tried not to gag as he pulled the shirt over his head. It was even on his skin under the shirt. Luckily- or unluckily- he wasn't wearing his binder. That meant he could just throw the shirt in the hamper and take a shower. So he did. Peeling off his clothes, he stepped into the warm jet of water, Sighing. He liked showers, especially when it got so steamy that he couldn't see his body. 

He wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to be on the outside what he was on the inside. To not have to worry about how people saw him or making sure that his clothes didn't make him look feminine. By some grace his parents had been very accepting but what would happen if they weren't? If they made him stay how he was and made him grow out his hair and wear girl clothes. He couldn't even imagine how that would be, but he knew for a fact that not everyone was as accepting as his mom and dad had been. Sure James had a problem in the beginning, but Harry was sure that if not for Sirius, Lily would have changed his mind. 

Thinking about his mother brought him back to this morning. He wondered how long they'd been going out. Would it be considered dating? They did live in the same house and Harry has to force himself not to think about what could have been happening in the room above his own. Instead, he thought about when everything could have started. Halloween, maybe? Harry couldn't remember the exact conversation he and Regulus had, but he knew it was about Regulus and partners. Didn't he look at James, then? All misty eyed and longing? Harry snorted. No he didn't look misty eyed. 

Finally clean, Harry stepped out and dried off. That was when he cursed at himself because he realized he didn't bring clothes in with him. Cursing to his heart's content, he wrapped a towel around himself and walked out. He would be fine just wearing a big shirt and sleep pants. Not like he was going anywhere. Drying his hair quickly, he pulled on underwear and pants before dropping the towel. His hand over his head so he could pull the shirt on, he heard the door open. He froze for a milliseconds, but it felt like hours before he jerked his arms down, covering his chest with the shirt. 

“Christ!” Hermione pulled Draco out of the room because he was still in the frozen state and she closed the door. He scrambled to pull the shirt on and ran, opening the door. Hermione and Draco weren't in the hall so they were probably downstairs. Harry ran down the stairs nearly tripping on the last step before coming face to face with Draco. His cheeks were red and his eyes wide as he looked at the ceiling. 

“Are you- um… does this mean you're actually a girl?”

“No!” Harry snapped and watched Draco tense. “Sorry. No. I'm not a girl. I'm a guy just like you, and Sirius, and Remus, and Regulus, and my dad. I'm a guy, I just-” Draco looked at him, his eyes flicking downward for a moment before flicking up to Harry's eyes. Harry pulled Draco up to his room, mouthing  _ sorry _ to Hermione, who just nodded. They walked upstairs and Harry sat Draco down on the bed while he sat in the chair. 

“I wanted to say something. I wanted to let you know somehow before anything went too far but most people who find out don't react the best. I've had people tell me that I'm sinning, that I'm lying, I'm just looking for attention, I'm confused, and that I'm both my mother's and father's good names. Hermione knew almost immediately. No one else knows.”

“How do I respond to this?” He asked in a small voice. 

“Are you angry?” He shook his head. “Upset?” He hesitated before shaking his head. Harry guessed he was just trying to understand. “Do you dislike me now?”

“I don't really feel all that different about you. I mean, I understand why you pulled away last night. I think. I mean, I don't understand, but it kind of makes sense.”

“You know how people are insecure about things?” Draco grinned. 

“No, I don't know what that feels like.” Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled. 

“Well, those of us that aren't perfect, or in your case, don't have a too big head, there are things that people don't like about themselves.” Draco huffed at the pseudo insult, but it didn't carry much weight. “Insecurities. Mine are… those.” He motioned to himself. “ Think about it this way. I'm a guy, I was just cursed at birth to be born with the wrong parts.” Draco laughed at that and Harry felt a weight lifting off his shoulders. “It was a tree witch, I bet.” Draco's brows scrunched with amusement.

“Tree witch?”

“There was a weeping willow by where we used to live and at night, it looked like a huge person was in the tree. I called her the tree witch.” Draco looked amused and there was a look that Harry couldn't interpret. 

“Okay, the school has very specific dress code policies. How'd you get past that?”

“Dad legally changed my name and gender. I'm legally Harry Potter, awkward male.” 

“So what about…”

* * *

Harry answered questions for another twenty minutes until James walked in to make sure everything was okay. By then, Draco was blushing and Harry was smiling. “I don't need to separate you two, do I? I will. I'll lock Harry in the basement.” Harry sighed.

“Ev- Everything is fine.” Draco's voice cracked. “Everything is fine.” 

Hermione came up and Harry handed the book to her. Draco was was in his room hopefully taking this as well as he seemed to be. He showed Hermione the passage about asexuality. “There's this, but also something called demisexual. You can read it if you want.” The room was silent for a while as she read so Harry pulled out his phone. 

_ Everything ok? _

He texted Draco. 

_ It's alot to take in at once. _

_ You're not angry? _

_ Not really. I understand why you didn't say anything.  _

Harry sighed, thankful. 

_ Can you not tell anyone? I don't want a repeat of my last school. _

_ Alright. _

Harry smiled softly. Hermione flipped the page pulling her knees to her chest as she read. Harry snapped a picture and sent it to Draco. 

_ I think the book is interesting. _

_ Is that what you do every time she's here?  _

_ No, this is a today only thing. Usually we just talk alot. _

Hermione closed the book so Harry closed his phone. “The only type of asexual I've heard of before was asexual reproduction in animals. This was enlightening.” She mouthed it a few times. “Asexuality does sound interesting on its own.” Harry smiled at his friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you noticed something very specific about Harry's condition in this chapter. Hint: it has to do with the thing with Sirius and Remus.


	31. Chapter 31

Harry crashed hard that night. Having not slept much at all the night prior, it was to be expected. He didn't expect to wake up around four in the morning having a dream that made it hard to breath. Harry didn't remember the dream- something vague floated around his head but he couldn't quite decipher it. He rolled over, his body stiff because Hermione was using his bed. Picking up his phone to check the time, he realized he'd gotten a message from Draco. 

_ You awake? _

The message was sent twenty minutes prior so he wasn't sure if Draco was even still awake.

_ Still awake? What's up? _

Harry waited a long time thinking that Draco was asleep before the phone vibrated on his chest. 

_ I've been thinking.  _

_ What about?  _

_ You're the way you are, why do things with me?  _

Harry thought for a moment. Why was he doing things with Draco?

_ I never really thought about it. Do you want to stop from now on? _

Draco answered almost immediately.

_ No. I'm just curious. _

Then he messaged again. 

_ I like doing those things with you. You're the first guy I've ever been with _

Seeing the word “guy” inflated Harry's ego incredibly. 

_ So are you for me. _

There was a long time between texts. Maybe Draco fell asleep? Maybe he didn't know what to say? The possibilities were great and Harry felt himself getting nervous. His hands were sweaty as he held his phone and his chest felt heavy. 

_ Do you ever think about doing more?  _

Harry's heart jumped in his chest as he read over the message. More what? More secret things they'd been doing? 

_ More? _

_ Like, more than just kissing. _

Harry's heart was definitely in his throat by now. 

_ Haven't really gotten that far with me being mysophobic. _

_ We could keep the lights off. _

Harry's stomach flipped as he read, the word  _ we _ sticking out much greater than the actual point of the message. Draco still wanted him. 

_ We'll talk about that later? _

_ Tomorrow? _

_ After Hermione leaves.  _

_ Okay. _

* * *

Harry wouldn't say he was panicking, per se, but as he watched Hermione’s bushy hair climb into car with his dad from the window, he felt like he was gonna throw up. It wasn't bad, so much and anxiety inducing. 

“You okay?” He turned to see Remus walking into the room. “You look like you're gonna pass out.”

“No, I'm fine. Just…”

“It's Draco, isn't it?” Harry jerked, looking at Remus. 

“What?”

“He found out yesterday, didn't he? About you being trans. I'd think that's pretty stressful.”

“Oh,” Harry could hear his heart beat in his ears. “Right.” Remus looked at him strangely for a moment before giving a small shrug. 

“So what do you want for food?”

It wasn't until night time when everyone was asleep that Harry got a message. 

_ Can you come here? _

Harry took a calming breath, though it wasn't successful. Sliding his door open carefully, he turned his light off before making the ascent up the stairs. 

He took it one step at a time, wincing as he stepped where it creaked. He'd never noticed the creaking before. Pausing to listen, Harry sighed in relief, skipping that step. 

When he was finally to the top, he knocked lightly on Draco's door to let him know he was there. Harry inched the door open to see that Draco had fairy lights on his wall. It illuminated the room softly and left an ambient feeling of peace through the room. Draco was laying on his bed with his feet on the wall, his pajamas shirt gone and his pant legs pushed up his thighs. Harry realized that this was the first time Harry had been in this room since someone was living in it. There was a bean bag chair in the corner and he had a desk of his own. 

Draco sat up and shifted so Harry could sit down. They'd done this plenty of times before so why did this time feel different?

They ended up doing nothing more than kissing for a few minutes before they both realized it was the middle of the night. 

Harry woke up wrapped around Draco's torso one of his arms numb from being under him for so long. It was barely light out so Harry wasn't blinded, but he could still see Draco's face. He looked peaceful in his sleep, his lips parted minutely so to breath. Harry wanted nothing more than to stay there forever, not moving for any reason, but his body had been in the same position for too long and he wasn't sure if someone was gonna come in to wake Draco up. 

Carefully sliding his hand out from under Draco, Harry reached up and stretched as he yawned, his body bending like a bow and his toes curling. He couldn't remember waking up so pleasantly. 

His movements woke Draco, who's eyes cracked open before he gave a soft smile. “M’ning,” He mumbled, shifting for comfort. Harry sighed with content as Draco wrapped a hand around his hip. “You have thick lashes.” Harry snorted.

“Thanks, I think.”

“So are we- are we dating now? Is that what this is?” Draco blinked awake, eyes looking more tired than ever. 

“I mean, if you wanna be. I wouldn't mind having you around my finger more than you already are.”

“Oh, is that was this is?  _ I'm _ wrapped around  _ your _ finger?”

“Definitely. Now get up. I think my arm is about to fall off and I want to at least be in my room when that happens.” Draco gave a tired laugh and shifted so he could stand. Instead of actually standing, Harry shifted and wrapped himself around Draco. He stiffened before letting himself sink into the pressure of Harry's body. 

“We should get up,” He suggested but made no move to do so.” Harry hummed confirmation into Draco's shoulder but didn't move either. He could almost fall back asleep. That was a bad idea, however wonderful if sounded in his mind though. 

Harry, given that he had alot of free time, decided to read that book about mental health. He only had a vague idea of what he was looking for. Not that he was looking for anything in particular, he just wanted to know if Remus was gonna be okay. It had to do with harming oneself, right? Because that's what Remus did. 

Draco was in his room as well having dragged the beanbag down and now was sitting in it with his feet propped on Harry's bed. He was reading the book about gender and sexuality  _ for something to read, don't look too far into it, _ he told Harry. 

Harry, for the first time when reading on his own, was taking notes. He wanted to know exactly what was wrong so he could try to help. Not that Sirius wasn't helping as it was but he couldn't just sit there dumb to it all. 

After about an hour, someone knocked on the door making Harry jump. “Yea?” He called, bookmarking the page he was on. The door opened And James walked in. He looked at Draco, then the book he was reading before clearing his throat.

“Can I talk to Harry for a moment? You can come right back when I'm done.” Draco nodded  and stood to put the book on the desk. Harry cringed as he noticed the book was still open, pages down. Before he could do anything else, he tore a piece of paper making another bookmark to put it in the book. Looking at the page, Draco was reading the part about people being transgender. Humming, Harry turned to his father. “Harry, about yesterday morning-”

“I don't care.” Harry cut in. “I mean, it was a bit of a shock after you told Molly you didn't want me to think you were trying to replace Mom, but it's not that bad.” James winced slightly. “I'm more upset about the fact that you didn't tell me.”

“How could I even start that conversation?  _ Hey, Harry. I'm dating a guy now _ .”

“Yea.” Shock passed over his face. “I adjusted to Sirius and Remus dating pretty easily. You think i wouldn't accept you and Regulus?”

“I'd more figure you'd have trouble with the fact that it's a guy.” Harry snorted. 

“I knew.” James’ face paled significantly. “I heard Mom talking to Sirius about it before. Plus I realized recently that guy who was here wasn't just an ordinary friend. It's okay really. I don't think I know anyone who is only straight.”

“Hermione?”

“She's asexual. I learned that recently. Pretty interesting, actually.” James deflated. 

“So you really don't mind?” 

“I said that. I just want you to tell me things. I'm not an idiot or a child. I can handle things I'm not entirely used to. If I'm old enough to understand that I'm trans, I'm old enough to handle that you're… bisexual? I think that's the word.” James walked forward, carefully wrapping his arms around Harry to avoid touching his skin. When he pulled back, he was looking at Harry curiously.

“Should I tell Sirius?”

“I thought he already knew.” James made a distressed noise and Harry snorted again.

* * *

Sleeping in Draco's room became a habit. He'd wait until everyone was asleep- or at least in their room- go upstairs, they'd fall asleep, Harry would wake up around dawn, then he'd go back to his room. They kept that up until Harry had to go back to school. The first day, it was strange waking up in his own room. He didn't sleep nearly as good as he did in Draco's room. 

At breakfast that day, everyone was sitting in their usual spots, except there was an extra person. Ron came over and sat down next to Harry but didn't look at him at all. 

“I'm sorry. What I did was pointless and rude. It wasn't my place to say anything.”

“I forgot about it,” Harry mentioned, not even lying. “It was Hermione who was most upset, and logically from what I've heard. I'm glad you apologized though.” Hermione nodded and Ron’s whole body relaxed. Harry patted his arm carefully. “Well, I'm gonna go get something actually edible and hopefully chocolate.” At this, Hermione gave him a knowing look. “Don't give me that look.” 

He stood and walked towards the end of the room where the vending machines were. Putting in fifty cents for the chocolate bar and another dollar for a small bottle of orange juice, he turned around almost knocking over Parvati. She looked him up and down. 

“We missed you at the meetings.”

“I was suspended.”

“I know. I saw the fight. I was right next to Neville’s table. You fought him because he touched you, right?” She asked, leaning over to rest herself on the wall. 

“Just don't like being touched.”

“Or was it where he touched you? Because he shoved your chest. You probably thought he felt it, right?” Harry felt his body go cold.

“Felt what?”

“That you're trans.” He jerked, head spinning to see if anyone heard. “Don't worry. I don't care. I have an aunt who thought she was male for twenty seven years.” She looked away at the distance dramatically. “I love that woman. Anyways, I wasn't a hundred percent sure until then. Because if it were any other case, you'd just push back, not beat him to a pulp, not that I can just assume all trans people are violent. Good job on that. I think he's gonna be afraid of you now. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone.” Harry was reeling from the conversation as he went back to the table. He'd been so lost about it, he even agreed to go to the meeting on Friday. 

Halfway through science, there was a phone call and Slughorn walked over. After a hushed conversation, he looked up. “Harry? Dumbledore wants to see you.” Harry sighed, closing his book. 

“What did I do now?”

When he entered the office, he was handed an envelope. “Can you see to it that this gets to your housemate?” Harry looked at the envelope. In short scratchy writing  _ Remus Lupin _ was scripted on it. 

“Can I ask, sir, what this is for?” Dumbledore just smiled. Harry walked out slowly and shoved the letter in his bag. He had more important things to worry about than a cryptic old man. 

Draco quickly filled him in. “We're still working on animal anatomy. I think he has a fetish. What was that about?” Harry barely had enough time to grimace. 

“He had a letter for Remus. I don't know what it is.”

“Did you open it?”

“No, it's not mine.” Draco rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet. Remus was actually the one who picked them up after school, so Harry gave it to him right away. “From Dumbledore.” As they walked inside- through the garage so they didn't track snow- Harry noticed that Regulus was leaning against the counter holding a coffee mug in both hands looking at the ceiling. Remus walked up behind them. 

“Still at it?” Regulus nodded solemnly.

“What's going on?” Draco asked. 

“Uh, short version, Sirius is pissed again.”

“Long version?” Harry questioned. 

“Sirius found out about your father and my relationship and isn't coping that well.” Something crashed upstairs.

“Should we stop them?” Draco asked.

“They can work it out on their own, I'm sure.”

“TV is out, isn't it?” Remus suggested.

“Maintenance. Won't be back til Wednesday.” Remus snorted and started to make himself a cup of tea. He apparently remembered the letter because he pulled it out and opened it. After reading a few lines, his eyes went wide and he dropped the paper as if it burned. 

Harry picked it up and read out loud. 

_ “Dear Mr. Lupin, _

_ It's come to my attention that you have majored in history and are viable to teach at an institution such as this. I would like to formally invite you to take an opportunity to be a teacher at this school. Our current history teacher, Mr. Binns, is seeking an early retirement and we need the place it filled lest the students miss out on an important class. When you have an answer, write back or call this number. Sighed A. Dumbledore _ . Remus this is amazing!” 

He still seemed to be reeling from the news. “I didn't know you majored in history.” Regulus noted, almost to himself. 

“You'd be a great teacher. Why don't we wait until Dad and Sirius make up and tell them?”


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an old dinosaur of a computer, but i have one. It should be much easier for me to write now.

“Harry?” Draco asked in the confines of his pitch black room. It was the weekend and they'd cut down Harry sleeping in his room to Friday and Saturday nights. Harry contemplated not answering and just pretending he was asleep, but ultimately gave in. 

“Yea?”

“Would I ever be able to touch you? More, I mean.” Harry felt his face getting warm and buried it into Draco's shirt. 

“I am very… selective… about that. You know that.” They had actually talked about it for a long time a few days prior.

“Is it because you can't touch people, or because you're trans?” Harry contemplated that for a moment. 

“I don't know for sure. Maybe both.” He felt Draco nodding before he stilled again. Harry bathed in the dark silence, feeling more than hearing Draco breathing. He soaked in the moment. Just a few months ago, he thought that he didn’t even like Draco, now he was here in his bed.

“My father is going away for a few days,” He suddenly mentioned. “My mother wants me to visit.” 

“Are you going to?”

“I think so.” He said before pausing again. “Can you come with me?” Harry shifted so that he was leaning on his elbow. He couldn’t see Draco, but at least it was easier to talk that way.

“What for?”

“I wouldn't put it past Lucius for this to be a trick of some sort. It was over text. Usually if she was talking, she'd call or just come.”

“Alright. When?” 

“Tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Harry was beside himself with nerves. He'd met Narcissa Malfoy a few times already as she visited Draco, but now he was nervous. Something about being in someone else's territory,  he supposed. Remus was driving and Draco sat in the back with Harry, gloved hands interlaced. They weren't even hiding the fact that they were holding hands and Remus didn’t comment. He was gonna start teaching at the school after the Christmas break so he was getting ready for that. When they stopped at the Malfoy home, Draco sighed and relaxed. 

“His car isn't here.”

They stepped out and held hands all the way to the door where he quickly dropped Harry's hand. They walked in and Narcissa was there smiling, but It was tense. She hugged Draco before noticing that Harry was there. She gave him a soft smile as well. “You didn't tell me that Harry was coming as well.” Draco turned a bit pink and looked away. 

“Sorry.”

“All is well. Now come, tea is being served.” Harry raised an eyebrow at her words and Draco smiled softly. They followed her to a room with couches and bookshelves and a table with a tea set on it. Harry sat next to Draco and was taught how to hold the cup properly and told repeatedly not to just drink the whole thing down. Once he managed to get it as close to correct ass possible, he shared pleasantries with the family. 

“How is schoolwork going, Draco?”

“It is well. We procured an A on that project.” Harry’s brows raised at his sudden shift in tone. He was talking almost too proper. 

“That is excellent. Is that Slughorn man still teaching or had Mr. Snape come back?”

“Slughorn still.” She nodded. Narcissa jumped and almost spilled her tea when a knock sounded from the door. A man peeked in. He seemed to be almost entirely bald expect for the slight tuft of hair on his head and had large ears that may only seem so large because he had no hair to cover them. “What is it, Doberty?”

“I thought the Miss would like to know that Miss’ sister is here to visit.” Narcissa tensed and clacked her tea cup to the table. 

“Up, both of you.” Harry didn't hesitate, but he did question the entire time as he was bodily shoved into a rather large closet next to Draco with a yelp. He looked at said blonde to ask questions, but at his horror struck face, Harry bit the question down. Soon, the outer door burst open and Harry took his turn to jump. 

“Cissa,” a sharp voice barked. 

“Bella. What an… unexpected surprise.”

“Can't I visit my dear sister?” 

“Usually I'd have warning long before now.”

“I thought I'd come as a surprise. What are you doing sitting here alone?” the woman asked. With how she sounded, Harry imagined she'd look a bit like Narcissa, but maybe sharper features. They sounded similar. She sounded like the stereotype of a wicked stepmother from fairy tales. 

“Enjoying tea. As one does.”

“Then why are there two extra cups?” Draco jerked away and grabbed Harry's hand in a vice grip. 

“I was entertaining guests. They left only moments before you arrived. You must have missed them,” Narcissa lied smoothly. Harry didn't understand why they were so afraid of this woman. “Why is it that you've come?”

“Because our dear sister has been looking for a specific cousin of ours.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. You were always closer to her than I. I thought she had asked you. I don't know what she would possibly want from that… insult to our bloodline. I hear that her offspring prefers to lay with women. Disgusting, isn't it?” Narcissa didn't respond. “Much like our dear cousin likes to lay with men. Even your son,” She laughed cruelly. “I couldn't imagine all that proper breeding going to waste over the fact that he likes dick Instead.” Harry felt nauseous as he listened. “But then you cast him away, so you can't possibly want to be around him. Just when your husband started to beat the proper way into him, too. Do you even visit the little faggot anymore?” 

Narcissa cleared her throat. “Lucius forbade me from visiting or talking to him until he can… come to his senses.”

“At least one of you makes sense.”

She visited for another half hour. Harry's body was cramping in that closet and his hand was going numb from how tightly Draco was holding him. When the door closed, they waited for another minute before Harry's legs gave out and he slipped out of the closet. 

“Draco.” Narcissa’s voice was shaking. She had tears lining her eyes, but they weren’t falling. She blinked a few times and it was like they had never even been there.

“Is it true?” He asked, openly crying. “You're not allowed to see me anymore?”

“This visit wasn't even supposed to happen.” 

“And you're just going to agree to that? Not put up a fight or anything? What happens when he starts to get angry and takes it out on you since I'm not there to take his cane to the face?” Draco waved frantically to his own features, to the light scar on his cheekbone where the bruise used to be. It had long since healed, but Harry never forgot. 

“He's not hit me yet.”

“So you're going to just-” He choked on tears, not able to finish. After a deep breath, he straightened and grabbed Harry's hand. “I'm never going to act like something I'm not.” She was eying their hands as Draco laced their fingers together. “I guess this is goodbye, then.” He pulled Harry out of the room and house. He didn't even stop when they made it to the driveway. He just kept walking along the road in the direction of home. 

For a long time, the only sound Draco. His fingers were getting numb so he shoved them in his pockets. “She's never been so… she was always a strong person. I don't know what happened.” Harry was silent. “Guess I'll be with you for a long time.”

“I don't mind.” 

Eventually, a car pulled up next to them and the door slammed. Harry and Draco turned to see James, rage on his face as he walked. As soon as he saw Draco's face, it melted away and he walked up. “What-”

“My… I'm not allowed to see my mother anymore.” James didn't question or pause, didn't ask why. He just reached forward pulling Draco into the type of hug a father should give, tight and reassuring. Harry sat by while Draco cried into his father's shoulder. 

He stopped at a fast food restaurant and ordered them anything they wanted and enough to take home before heading in that direction. When they walked in, Harry walked Draco to his room. Draco laid down so Harry laid with him wrapped around him like a blanket.

* * *

 

It was dark when Harry woke up, still wrapped around Draco. The only difference was that there was a blanket over them and the light was out. He thought maybe someone had come in and helped them. 

“You awake?” Draco asked. Harry nodded. “Your dad came in. He was gonna talk but you were asleep.”

“Sorry.”

“You look cute in your sleep.” Harry felt his face heat again. “Come’re,” He mumbled, pulling Harry ever closer, almost on top of him. “Can I kiss you?” Harry nodded before realizing it was completely black. 

“Yes,” Harry was pulled up as Draco moved him. Harry was straddling Draco now. Draco kissed and kissed, like the kiss would take away his pain. Hands tangled into Harry's hair anchoring him down. Harry hummed quietly at the feeling. When Draco's tongue touched Harry's lips, he jerked for a second before calming. He'd probably never get used to that feeling. 

When Harry took a deep breath he felt the constriction of his binder. “Gimme a sec. Binder hurts.” He looked down as he sat up. “Cover your eyes.”

“It's pitch black.”

“So?” a clap sounded through the air as he slapped his hands over his eyes and Harry was as quick as possible to take off his shirt, then his binder, pulling his shirt back on. He tossed the binder elsewhere in the room before leaning back down and pecking Draco's lips before laying flat on his chest. Draco's hand carded through Harry's hair as Harry counted the steady rhythm of his heart beat. When Draco's chest started to shake, Harry wrapped his arms around him as best he could. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” it was silent for another stretch of time before his body stopped shaking. 

“Not really.” Harry nodded. 

“When I first came out as trans, my mother cried. I thought that she was upset because the last time she'd cried, it was because she was on her monthly thing and saw an apple that was cut and shaped like a bear.” Draco laughed. “It turned out that she was just happy that I trusted her with that information. I wish you'd have met her. She wasn't like dad. If she was here when you came, she'd probably drive over there and punch your father In the face before taking you out for ice cream.”

“She sounds… great.” He sighed. “My mom, she was always… strong. She was the driving force behind out family for a long time. Any decision for anything went through her first. I don't understand why she suddenly listens to what he says.” Harry felt the mood getting sour, so he changed the subject.

“Who was her sister?” Draco's whole body relaxed. 

“My aunt Andromeda. I only met her once. Because everyone else married into rich families, but Andromeda married a  _ commoner _ and they had a child. You think she was looking for Sirius? He's the only cousin we have around here. And he is pretty gay.”

“Why would she be looking for him?”

“No clue.” 

Soon, Harry shifted so that he wasn't on top of Draco but rather to the side, and relaxed into his body. 

The next morning, Harry peeled himself away from Draco, who was still asleep. Leaving him there, Harry snuck his way downstairs. 

“How's he doing, Kid?” Harry tensed and turned, seeing Sirius sitting at the table. It wasn't even six in the morning. Harry quickly made cereal as he thought about what he was going to say. It wasn't really his place to say how Draco was. It was Draco's, wasn't it? But he couldn't just leave Sirius in the dark, especially when he asked.

“He's… dealing with it.” Harry mumbled before sitting down. “I don't think he really knows how to do anything else.”

“It's probably really hard for him, you know? Imagine if James stopped talking to you because you like a certain thing.”

“I couldn't.” Sirius nodded again. “Uh, The woman that came- or, there was a woman that came. And Draco's mother made us hide in a closet while she visited. Draco seemed quite stressed out about it. Well, she said that her sister, which wasn't Draco's mother because they were in the same room, was looking for someone.” Harry cleared his throat. “She said something about a cousin and said a few rude words about gay people.” 

“You think it might be me?” He asked, almost amused. 

“Well, Draco said you're the only cousin around here.” Sirius grew a contemplative look on his face. 

“I'll look into It.” They ate together in a comforting silence until the house started to come to life.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't been writing because personal reasons so I'm a bit behind on it all, but I'm writing again. It'll take a while to catch up, so I beg your patience. This chapter is just going to be about James and Regulus, touching a bit more into their relationship.

James closed the door, leaning back against it for a moment. He'd waited some time for both teens to calm down after the visit to Draco's mother but he didn't expect to walk in and see Harry wrapped around Draco like a new skin. His head was even on Draco's shoulder and he was deep in sleep. Draco had smiled sheepishly at him as he came in, almost looking apologetic.

James was… shocked, to say the least. Running a hand through his hair, he thought back. He'd been so angry before, Harry and Draco trying to walk home alone. The roads were dangerous and he had planned to give them a whole speech. He was even practicing in the car the whole way there until he saw how devastated Draco looked. He still didn't truly understand. Why would his mother reject him like that? The mere thought of treating Harry in such a way rose bile in his throat and made him appreciate Sirius for setting him straight. Just because Draco liked Harry?

James would have to admit, he didn't like the idea of Harry being Harry at first. It felt almost insulting to think that he wasn't happy. James was offended that he'd not accepted who he was. But then, with Sirius yelling at James and telling him what a shit person he was being- and threatening his various body parts to get his head out of his ass- that he realized that Harry was accepting who he was. 

Harry was accepting that he was actually male. So James had researched as much as possible. When he picked a name, Lily had told him that it was a strong name. When they bought him his first binder, Harry cried and hugged James tight. When Harry was getting harassed at school, They moved across the country. 

He couldn't fathom not being there for Harry, so why could Draco's mother ditch him like that? James retreated down the stairs to see Sirius and Remus at the table. “What's going on?”

“Harry fell asleep. Draco looked like he was almost there when I walked in. I don't know much else.” Sirius took a long drink of his tea and leaned down, feeding Padfoot a piece of meat from his sandwich. “All I know is that Narcissa isn't allowed to see Draco anymore.” Sirius tensed, his hand holding his mug too tightly. “His father's orders.”

“She wouldn't-” Sirius sighed, running fingers through his hair. “There's something else to it, isn't there?” He mentioned desperately. “There has to be.”

“No clue. We'll ask when they wake up.” Sirius nodded again and leaned against Remus. James eyed the doorway where he saw the cut off appearance of Regulus sitting in the living room. 

“Harry touched me.” Sirius informed and James jolted. “it was like a week ago. He touched me. And Remus. I don't even think he noticed.”

James sighed, a weight shifting off his shoulders. “That woman is a miracle worker, honestly.” He mentioned before looking cross. “Why did he touch you?”

“Sirius was being a child and I got pulled in and we ended up fighting with food toppings.” Remus cut in before Sirius could say anything. 

“He wiped mustard off himself and spread it across my face.” Sirius laughed, high and joyous and James understood. Harry was getting better. 

Sure he sometimes still looked at things like they were covered in slime, but if he was touching people without even realizing…

James stood and walked to his room, Regulus following. Sirius wasn't upset so much about their relationship. Most of the yelling was Sirius telling James that Regulus was practically innocent when it came to relationships and “ _ I just got him back, James, don't ruin this for me _ .” in their room, James curled onto the bed, his body wrapped around Regulus’ body. He pushed his face into the back of Regulus’ neck and sighed. 

Regulus wasn't soft. He was hard features and sharp angles, too many muscles and not enough softness. Regulus turned and curled up with James. Regulus had pressed his face into James’ neck and breathed in softly. Not able to deal with the thoughts in his head, James changed it to something else, rolling Regulus to his back. 

“Gonna take your feelings out on me?” The other male asked softly.

“You say it like I’m abusive or something.” Regulus just snorted and pulled James by his neck. James hummed as they kissed, running his hands up Regulus’ sides before dragging his hands up arms to interlace their fingers. He pushed their hands into the bed feeling Regulus’ breath hitch. Regulus pulled his hands experimentally for a moment before letting his body relax. It was something that always transpired no matter how much they did and James was curious, but felt like asking about it would break some kind of magic between them. 

Regardless, he sat up and shifted so that he could throw his leg over Regulus’ straddling him. “Hmm. Taking control this time?” James sat up for the sole purpose of taking his shirt off, which Regulus opted to do as well. When that was one, he leaned down and kissed Regulus fiercely again, pressing his hands to the bed once more.

“Shh. I’m taking my feelings out on you, remember?”

“Right, right. Do carry on.” James smiled into Regulus’ lips trying not to laugh.

“God, you’re just like Sirius sometimes.”

“Please don’t mention my brother while we’re in the middle of getting naked.”

“Not your kind of foreplay?”

“I think I’d rather just go celibate.” James pulled back and laughed. When he looked down at Regulus, the man wasn’t looked at his face, but rather his eyes were looking over James’ body. Without warning, Regulus sat up and wrapped his arms around James’ torso. They sat like that for a long time before James felt Regulus grin against his skin. James let out a noise as he was pulled to the bed again. After rolling around for a moment, Regulus ended up being the one sitting while James was laying down. Nimble fingers started to undo his zipper so James returned the favor, unbuttoning Regulus’ slacks. 

“Do you even know how to wear jeans?” He asked. 

“Jeans are for workers. Farmers and such. As I am the designated freeloader, I’m not the working class.” James lifted his hips so that his pants could be slid off. Regulus pulled away to take his own pants off while James dug around his nightstand. 

“You know, they’re not so bad.” He explained when Regulus took his place back between James’ legs as he took the bottle.

“I think I actually would rather die. I’m a man of class, James Potter.”

“Yes, so classy living in your brother’s house.”

“I’ll walk out the door.” James knows he wouldn’t. James knows that Regulus is still touch- starved. The first time James touched Regulus, he jerked away and looked at his own hand as if he’d been burned. Later that week, while Harry was at school and Sirius and Remus were upstairs doing whatever it is that such a happy couple does, James clapped him on the back as a friendly gesture and Regulus just  _ melted _ . It was James’ turn to jerk away as he watched Regulus’ face turn red. 

James tried to laugh it off suggesting that maybe their mother wasn’t big on hugs. That had been a mistake because Regulus looked at him like he’d just insulted his whole family. “No, it’s… I mean… It was a joke. Every mother hugs her child. You were her favorite child, weren’t you?” Regulus looked confused for about point three seconds before his eyes began to tear up.

“Should she have?” He didn’t have the time to think about what had happened or what was going on now, he just walked over and hugged Regulus with the type of hug that he used to give Harry when he was able. Regulus had melted into his arms. If his chest was shaking as he stood, James wouldn’t say.

“James?” He looked up at Regulus who was looking at him with a mix of curiosity and concern. 

“Sorry. Checked out for a minute.”

“Maybe you need sleep.”

“Leave me like this now and I will never forgive you.” Regulus laughed as his hands slid over every inch of the body that his fingers could reach. 

“You know I wouldn’t.” James smiled as he closed his eyes. He didn’t figure he’d ever really get used to the feeling of this. Maybe that was a good thing. That meant that they’d never get tired of it. Regulus was… considerably sized- James hadn’t done anything like this before so he wasn’t sure what to compare it to, but he had to guess. With fingers making indents on James’ thighs, Regulus paused. “Everything okay?” James nodded, then shook his head and nodded again. One hand had left James’ thigh to trail softly down his chest, caressing the skin there. When his hand found it’s way down, James found himself arching into the touch.

* * *

 

Regulus had fallen asleep as it grew dark, but James was still wide awake. He wasn’t sure if he was listening for Regulus’ breath or Harry’s movement across the hall, but he knew he was listening. Maybe it was Sirius and Remus he was listening for, or maybe for something unseen. James thought often at night. He thought about his son and the fact that he was growing. Soon, he always thought, soon Harry will grow into pretending he hated his family. He’d turn into one of those teens who stayed in their room all the time, those small rebellions would start and they’d start fighting. He was most worried when Harry turned thirteen. He still hadn’t and part of James felt like he wouldn’t, but the chance was always there. 

He’d already messed up many times. He’d lied, hidden things, avoided topics, tried to keep his son safe. It didn’t work. Harry was naturally curious, loving, and- whether he wanted to admit it or not- sensitive to people’s emotions. Those were all things he took from Lily. Trying to keep a stupid secret almost lost him his son. The first time with the person he brought home, then this. Harry didn’t react favorably to him being with Regulus. He’d wanted to say something long ago, maybe a bit after it started, but he never had the chance, then he just lacked the bravery. He never wanted Harry to think he was trying to replace Lily. He never would do that. James sighed into Regulus’ hair. He’d think about that later. 


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the dance :). I'm going to forgo the Christmas break so after the dance, it'll go to the beginning of the new year.

The meeting was simple. Since it was just a week until the dance, they needed to figure out the regulations of what was and wasn’t allowed. Harry sat between Padma and Parvati- it was their choice and he found it strange but didn’t question it.

Everything was mostly unanimous, except for the last topic. “Should same-sex couples be allowed at the dance?” The person in front asked. Harry felt his heart jump. No sooner than the words were out of his mouth did the room erupt into loud arguments.

“Does this happen often?” Harry asked, leaning over to Parvati. She nodded.

“From what I understand, It’s been happening for years. Every dance.”

“Last year, there was even a group of people who tore down the decorations because they were unhappy.” Padma cut in. “They got suspended. It was by their family money that all of them didn’t get expelled.”

“All of them?”

“Some of them didn’t have money to pay off the supers.” Harry nodded. Eventually, they ended up taking a vote. The people had to get out a piece of paper and write down their answer. When everyone was done, they’d count it. Harry pulled out a notebook tearing a piece of paper in half, then again giving one to both Patil twins. He wrote a short yes before handing the paper over.

“They will,” Parvati explained, grinning. “I’m pretty sure someone miscounts every year. There hasn’t been a single year that they weren’t.” Parvati leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms behind her head. “Hmm. I have trust. Plus, Lavender and I went out and bought matching dresses, so I’d hate for it to be ruined by bigots.” Padma leaned forward to see her twin, gasping.

“You’re going with her? I’ll tell Dad.” Parvati looked over.

“What are you, five? Plus, you can’t tell. If you do, I’ll tell about Michael Corner.” Padma stood abruptly.

“That was- You wouldn’t.” Harry sunk further into his seat as Parvati stood next.

“And you wouldn’t tell about Lavender.” The meeting was once again called to order after all of the papers were counted. “Bet you five it’ll be a yes.” Harry thought for a moment.

“There’s no point in really taking that bet since you already know.” She looked over and grinned again.

“True, but it’s still fun.” Harry laughed as the room fell silent. The person held a piece of paper.

“51 to 49 is yes.”

* * *

 

When Harry was home, he walked straight to his room to change. At a knock on the door, he pulled a shirt on and opened it. James stood there with a soft smile and a sandwich. “Everyone else was fed.” Harry smiled as he took it. “How’d it go?”

“Being in the student council sounds exhausting. Not my thing. Though I did get to decide what the proper dress code for the dance is. And whether or not same-gendered couples could go.”

“Do they?”

“It was three votes away from being a tie, but yes. They get to.”

“This means we need to buy you a suit.”

“I couldn’t-”

“No questions. You’ve waited long enough. Harry was in the middle of the car next to Regulus and Draco. In the front, his dad was driving and Sirius was in the front seat. Remus had elected to stay home rather than try to fit himself in as well. From there, they were driving to a place in town.

“Madam Malkins?” Harry asked, looking up at the sign. “She made my school uniforms.”

“Yea. She does a bit of everything when it comes to clothes.” He shoved Harry through the door where a squat woman stood.

“Ooh, the woman said. “Customers. Welcome back. I take it this is for a tuxedo?” She looked between the two younger people and Harry nodded. “Goody. Come, come. I’ll do you first. You’re shorter so it will take less fabric.” Draco snorted so Harry elbowed him in the ribs before following her to the back room. With the fabric measuring tape, she checked the size of his arms, legs, torso, neck, hips, chest and waist. “Pick a color?”

“For what?” He asked, looking at her in the mirror.

“The outer coat.”

“Blue.”

“Light or dark?”

“Dark.”

“Tie or bow?”

“Uh, tie I suppose.” When he was done, Draco went next. “I went with dark blue,” Harry explained. Sitting in the chair with his knees to his chest, Harry tapped his fingers against his knees as they waited. When Draco walked out, Harry stood with James and Sirius.

“Come back in three hours. I’ll have your clothes.” His father nodded, so they walked around town again. Harry was breathing warm air into his fingers before long. He’d forgone gloves thinking he’d be fine, but sorely regretted it. When he let his hands fall into his pockets, he was surprised when he felt a gloved hand wrapping around his own. He looked at Draco, but the other boy was looking away. He had a pink tint to his face which _could_ be attributed to the cold, but Harry was skeptical. At his right, he could see Sirius eying their hands. Harry, in return, laced their fingers and held on tighter.

He looked up, catching Sirius’ eye as the older man raised an eyebrow, but didn’t share any words. They walked into another store to fight the heat. “Who wants food?” James offered.

* * *

 

When they went back, they were both instructed to try their clothes to make sure they fit. Harry struggled to figure out what went where, but when he was done, he looked in the mirror. The undershirt was a soft lavender and contrasted the dark royal blue that the jacket and pants were made of. The tie was also dark blue. Walking out, he felt strange in such a fancy suit but wearing sneakers. When he walked out, he noticed blonde hair immediately. Draco was wearing light purple instead of dark. It was much the same design save for the fact that the undershirt was dark blue and the jacket was a bit longer.

Harry looked Draco up and down and when he met Draco’s eyes, the blonde had been doing the same thing. Sirius buried his face in his hands. “Oh, god. Their eye-fucking each other. This was a mistake.” And he walked out. Regulus was the first one to walk over.

“It looks good on you.” Harry looked up and smiled.

“Thanks. Feels kind of stiff, you know? Like the uniform, but not very good at moving. It is soft though,” Harry mentioned, running his hands over the fabric.

“Your school uniform is supposed to be worn for hours at a time, it’s meant to be comfortable.” Harry nodded, walking back to change. Their new clothes were put in special holders and hung up when they drove home. James took them and put them in the closet.

Back in comforting clothes, Harry walked downstairs just in time for a movie to be put in. James and Regulus were sitting on the couch and Draco was in one of the chairs while Sirius and Remus were in the other.

Harry wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he woke up to a dark room and only the tv on.  It was playing one of those late night crime shows about dangerous gangs, but was on mute. Padfoot was laying on the couch, seeming in a deep slumber. He was bleary-eyed so he patted his face, but couldn’t feel his glasses. Harry was laying on the chair, laying on each arm. Feeling around found them on the stand so he pulled them on. No one else was in the room and the time on the clock seemed to say it was around midnight. Grabbing the remote, Harry turned the volume up for background noise.

 _“... seems there’s no stopping these dangerous criminals.”_ The man explained. “ _Strings of murders all across the country have been linked to these people, yet no one seems to know who they are or where they come from.”_ Harry yawned as he watched past the tv. _“The police don’t seem to actually know whether they are all related to the same group or if they’re copy-cats, but the only thing for certain is that they only ever exclude the attack of homes with all Caucasians. The only thing connecting the attacks is a symbol either painted or carved somewhere on or around the house in this symbol, which is believed to be their gang sign.”_

Harry looked over and his heart jumped out of his chest. A frighteningly familiar symbol was shown on screen involving a particular snake and skull. He couldn’t place where he’d seen it before, but it tingled his mind unable to put it past him.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Sorry for such a long break. A great deal of things have been happening in my life and I have had no time to do any writing. Here's the next chapter.

Having never before attending a school sanctioned dance before, Harry was understandably nervous. He had actually never been invited before. His old school was- if hoping actually did anything- burning to the ground for how they treated him, so he didn’t really have prime opportunity to go anywhere. Draco was next to him holding his hand, already wearing gloves. He looked more than stunning now, his hair pinned back out of his face. Harry had no such luck. They all tried to go as far as to gel his hair back, but nothing worked. They just decided to wet it and hope for the best. Last time he looked in the mirror, it was heavy and dark red with wetness, but still wild. 

His fingers started to twitch so he looked down. The ring on his finger- middle finger since his ring finger was too small- was small and silver with red and purple stones embedded all around it. The ring looked entirely too expensive. 

_ “My mother helped me,” Draco explained, fumbling with the box in his hands. “She helped me decide how it would look and what things to use. The red ones are rubies. That’s… Hermione told me when your birthday was. They’re your birthstone.” He pulled it out of the box and Harry gasped. “The purple ones are called alexandrite. They…” Draco’s face turned pink. “They just looked good with the red.” He slid it onto Harry’s finger. “She gave it to me the first time she visited. We had it made when I first asked you to the dance.” _

It stood out against his skin, looking brilliant in the fake lights of the school. When another car pulled up, Harry was pulled out of his thoughts. Hermione was the one who climbed out, her looking amazing in her periwinkle colored dress. It was tight around her sides and flowed out towards the bottom, her shoulders exposed because of the thin strap, but she had a scarf to keep her warm. Her hair was doing it’s best tied in a bun on top of her head and she was wearing boots that came up to the middle of her calf. At Harry's appreciative sound, she turned around and smiled at him. Her grin split her face as she looked up and down him, walking over. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she slid them down his arms, stopping at his wrists before she could touch his hands. 

“You look wonderful, Harry!” Looking closer, she was wearing light makeup around her eyes and on her lips, but not much else. 

“You look better!” He nearly yelled, nervous excitement not helping him to keep his voice down. He looked around the area. “Where's your date?”

“Oh. He... canceled. last minute.” Her face fell from the excited grin before she recovered, smiling happily again. “Its okay. He is- He was in trouble. So I came here on my own. No big deal.”

“So, why don't you be our date?” He looked over at Draco, who nodded. “Now, instead of one date, you have two?” Hermione choke out a laugh, covering her mouth. Harry went to one side while Draco went to the other, looping their arms with each of hers. Together, they walked forward and into the building. 

There were already plenty of people inside, most of them in the center. Harry let himself get pulled over to a table where they set up. He noticed almost immediately that no one was dancing. Harry was confused because wasn’t the point of a dance to do what the title of the event was? Plenty of people had danced at the Halloween one, so what was different. The music was low, but he could already tell that he didn’t know who was singing or what song it was. Harry had almost never felt more out of place than he had at that moment, not sure what to do.

Hermione walked away, coming back with a plastic red cup filled almost to the brim with a purple liquid. “Punch is being served.” He looked over Draco’s head to see the table. There was food being served, as well as drinks and cake. Behind the table were a few people that looked like they’d rather be anywhere else but to be chaperoning a school dance. He felt sympathy for people that he didn’t even know the names of or clearly see their faces. 

“I’ll get us drinks,” Draco offered, standing. “Wait here.” Harry nodded, not planning on going anywhere. He would get swallowed by the crowd of people and he knew that for a fact. Harry sighed, so Hermione shifted her chair over. 

“What’s wrong, Harry? Not enjoying yourself?”

“It’s not that. Is this all this is? Just people standing around?”

Hermione cleared her throat. “Well, as soon as more people come, it’ll kick up, I’m sure. Plus, I heard that at nine o'clock, they turn the actual lights off and use the stage lights. That way, it’s easier to get into the dancing mood, i guess.” She started to run her finger over the rim of her cup.

“So, Ron got in trouble?” With a groan, she dramatically let her head fall to the surface of the table. 

“No. I thought we could go as friends. Like when you and I went to the one before. But then i found out that he’d told people that we were dating. I found out from Fred. Or George. They were both there and never said which one he was. Since they both cut their hair to make them look the same again, it’s hard to tell.” Draco came back, giving Harry his drink and a piece of cake while he sat and listened. “The thing is, he didn’t even joke about it, which ever one it was. He just asked if I was really dating  _ Ronniekins _ and asked if he was blackmailing me and that’s why. I said I wasn’t dating anyone and I didn’t like those kinds of jokes but rather than joking about it like I expected. They just looked at each other like they were sharing  secret. So I called to ask him about it, but his mom answered. She started to gush about how it was wonderful that i was giving Ron a chance at dating and how wonderful of a couple we’d be. As soon as I was able to ask Ron, he froze up and started to stutter saying that he didn’t know what was going on. I canceled coming with him and told him to just stay home.”

“That’s horrible.” Draco said, causing them both to look over. He was sitting forward, leaning over the table to get closer. “For him to do that to you is absolutely foul.” Hermione straightened her back, looking him up and down. Whatever she was looking for, she seemed to find it, because her shoulders relaxed slightly and she sighed.

“Yea. It is. Until he comes clean about it and apologizes, he’s banned from out table again.”

“Ok-”

“No, that’s not right.” Harry interrupted Draco. Hermione tensed again. “Tell him what he’s done wrong. Hell, make him sit at the table and don’t talk to him. If you just ban him from the table, he won’t see what he’s done wrong.”

“But he tried to tell people we were a couple.”

“Then stop being his friend entirely. He can’t keep stepping over you. You keep forgiving him, and he will keep doing it. Tell him where he did wrong, or just stop being friends with him.” She deflated again, sighing. After a moment, she nodded. 

“You’re right. I’ll tell him tomorrow. I’ll call him and tell him.” Harry nodded, satisfied. He picked up the cup of punch and took a large drink, almost choking on the taste. The closest thing he could compare it to was sugar put in cough syrup. “What’s wrong?”

“Taste it.” He suggested, so both she and Draco did, Hermione coughing at the taste and Draco spitting it back into the cup before he made a mess of himself. 

“What is that?” Draco winced, looking at the cup as if someone attempted to poison him. “It tastes almost like-” He cut himself off, looking up and around the room. “I’ll be right back.” And with that, he left the table.

“Maybe we shouldn’t drink it?” Harry offered, so Hermione nodded and put the cup down. Harry cleared his throat, adjusting the collar of his shirt. “I sure hope it wasn’t poison or anything. I drank a whole mouthful.” Hermione chuckled. 

“I don’t think someone is going to try and poison a group of high school students.” Harry shrugged.

“You never know. Someone might have a grudge. Or maybe against the school. Maybe it’s some giant plot to battle against the entire town by killing their children.” 

She looked at him with a serious look on her face. “That’s pretty dark, Harry.” He shrugged again, looking at her. His eyes were a bit fuzzy and he was growing a bit lightheaded, but he put it out of his mind. “Where did you come up with something like that.

“I was watching a crime show when we left. It’s still in my head a bit.” 

“That’s really dark.” She said again. He just sat there laughing under his breath. 

Draco came clambering back and sat down, a shocked look on his face. He had his phone tightly held in his hand. “What’s going on?” Harry asked as he checked for anything that could be strange. With his head feeling so strange and a sick feeling in his stomach, it was harder to do.

Draco turned his phone on. “I found out why it tastes so strange.” When Draco showed the picture he had taken Harry felt his chest tighten. An empty bottle was there, obviously previously holding alcohol. 

“Why would someone do that?” Draco huffed.

“I don’t know. But don’t drink anything.” Hermione pushed Harry out of the way to get to Draco. 

“Harry drank a whole mouthful. He was the one who found out it tasted bad.” The blond winced as he looked at Harry. 

“How big of a gulp?”

“Big enough.” Draco grabbed his shoulders and made him look forward. 

“Are you okay? Feeling dizzy? Sick? Feel like you might not be able to keep lunch in?” Harry smacked Draco’s hand away. 

“I’m fine. Everything is fine.” He lied. Draco looked like he didn’t believe a word that Harry had said. 

“If you start to feel bad and want to go, I’ll call your house.”

“You can’t! Harry snapped. What would his father think if he found out? What would  _ Sirius _ think? Harry wasn’t any closer to getting the stuff out of him than he was to finding out that answer. 

“It won’t be so bad. I’ll just tell him that you don’t feel well.”

“Then my dad will think i can’t do things outside. This happened before. I got sick because of food poisoning and he coddled me for weeks. He watched what i ate and how much and refused to let me eat anything that he didn’t watch get made. If he found out I got sick, he’d want specific details. Then what?”

“I could just say that there are too many people here and you’re overwhelmed.”

“But I’m not. He’ll think I can’t handle so many people around and never let me-” Harry stopped when he felt gloved hands wrapped around his face. Draco was cradling his face in his hands softly running his thumbs along Harry’s cheek bones. 

Harry gre comfort from the small action and felt himself calming down. “It’ll be fine. I’ll handle the talking and everything.” Draco leaned forward, so Harry closed his eyes just as he felt lips pressing against his own. He took a breath through his nose as he relaxed. He almost didn’t want Draco to pull away.

“Maybe we should go home.”

“I’ll stay here,” Hermione mentioned. “I’ll let you know if anything happens.” She put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Get better, Harry. Everything will be okay.” He nodded and sighed as Draco pulled out his phone again and stood, helping Harry stand to walk outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is the only bit of underage drinking because I think that Harry, in any universe, wouldn't do something like that but I'm an optimist. After this, they'll be started on the new year. I hope you enjoy it after such a long wait. Don't forget to write a review and show your love :)


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it seems like I'm just throwing things out there at random, but I promise, there's a whole plan that I have. Everything will make sense eventually.

Getting up early was Harry’s least favorite thing to do, but now that Remus was going to be teaching, he was going to be forced to so they could ride to school with him. Harry groaned around his toast as he felt a wave of exhaustion crawl over him. Someone let out a laugh so he looked up. Sirius and Draco were the only ones in the room with him, Regulus and James being asleep and Remus getting ready. Harry swallowed his mouthful and cleared his throat, catching Sirius’ attention. 

“What?” The man asked, looking at the both of them. “You know, if you didn't sneak into his room at odd hours in the night, you wouldn't be so tired.” All of the blood leaked from Harry's face and he was suddenly more awake than ever before. “Did you think i didn’t know? His room is right above mine. I hear every bit of movement he makes. Plus the stairs keep making noise.” Harry put his hands in his lap, feeling shame roll through his chest. Was Draco going to get kicked out now? Was he going to get in trouble? 

“I’m-”

“Don’t worry.” Sirius interrupted. “I’m not going to tell James. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt by assuming that all you do is sleep in the same room together. Hell, even the same bed, for all I care. If both of you are sleeping better with that set up, I don’t care. Just know this. If i suspect that anything less than pg is going on, I will tell your father. He won’t take as kindly to this type of information.” Harry watched him carefully and closely. “Am I understood?”

“Yes,” Harry responded. Sirius shifted his attention over to Draco, who was looking at his lap. 

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now finish eating. Remus will be down soon and I want you fed before school.

\-----

James felt his eyes shoot open at the sound of the doorbell. Untangling himself from a groggy Regulus, he pulled on pants and made his way down the stairs. Behind the door, James vaguely recognized the person. Opening the door, he tried to keep his face neutral. “Yes?”

“Where is Sirius?” She asked, looking down the driveway. “Wasn’t this his house?”

“Well, he lives here. Right now-” James looked at the clock on the wall that was shaped like a weird cat that Harry picked out. “He’s with Remus. It’s his lunch break.”

“So i was a bit too early. May I come in and wait?”

“What for?”

“Sanctuary.” Not understanding anything, but understanding when someone was distressed, he opened the door further. She looked back at her car and nodded so JAmes peaked out, noticing that doors were opening. Up the driveway came two girls, one of them that James hadn’t seen in a few years. 

“Andromeda.” He mentioned at the woman at the door.

“Did you think i was-” She cut herself off, running a hand down her wild hair. “Nevermind. Yes.” She opened an arm, taking her daughter into her arm. “You remember Nymphadora?” The purple haired girl turned a bit pink in the cheeks. 

“Please don’t call me that.” She nearly whined. “Just… call me Dora.”

“Yes, well, I’ll call you by your name. This is her girlfriend.” Andromeda pointed towards the other girl, who had a symmetrical face and long near white hair. “Fleur.” Together, they all walked forward into the house.  

“What brings you all to the other side of the whole country?”

“I’d like to wait for Sirius.” James closed the door and put his hands up in surrender. They waited for a few minutes until they collectively heard the car pulling into the driveway. He walked in and stopped. 

Silver eyes scanned the room, looking from one new face to the next. “Andy?” She smiled kindly. 

“Siri.” He walked over, wrapping her in a hug, pulling her off the couch. 

“What are you doing here?” She sighed as she was let go, straightening her clothes before setting herself down again. 

“The town- our town isn’t safe anymore.” She explained, so Sirius sat down on James’ other side. “That stupid gang that Bella got herself into, they’re all over, terrorizing people. We couldn’t come until now because of the holidays and how swamped the airport is during that time. We’ve been hiding in various motels. The first chance we had, we came, but then I saw them here, too. I didn’t want your daughter wrapped up in it, too, so I wanted to come when she wasn’t here.”

“Son.” James corrected, softly. He respected her as a person because of how well Sirius talked about her, but he didn’t want to let her just be wrong. “His name is Harry. He’s my son.” She looked mildly uncomfortable.

“What’s he like?” Dora asked, diffusing the tension between them. “I never got the chance to meet him.”

“He’s wonderful. He’s made a bunch of friends and he’s even on the student council.” James gushed. “But… back on track.”

“Right.” Andromeda said, sliding her hair behind her ear as best as she could. She smoothed her hands down her dress again. “I knew from you taking in Sirius that this place was safe. Bella’s people, they wouldn’t try to get into this house, if they even knew where ‘here’ was. There’s too many people. I was wondering if you could find a way to take them in, keep them safe here. I an pay for every since expense you need. I just need them safe.”

“We’ll have to wait for everyone to get home,” Sirius mentioned. “This is another family thing.”

“Very well.”

* * *

 

Harry, Draco and Hermione walked into their first period class talking. “How can you say you’ve never watched it,” Hermione mentioned. “It’s a masterpiece of modern cinema.” Harry felt sheepishly nervous about that morning still. 

“I just don’t watch movies. While a demon being raised next to a half fish half person sounds interesting, I haven’t really found anything interesting enough to really get into.” They walked through the door and Harry froze at the mess of greasy hair that was sitting at the teacher’s desk rather than Slughorn. “Oh, hell.” Hermione followed his line of sight before her whole body deflated. 

“Stop cluttering the doorway,” Snape snapped making Harry close his eyes against the irritation. “Granger, Potter! Find your seats.” Harry didn’t make a single noise or even raise his hand the entire class. 

On the way to their next class, he passed by the History room. Remus was standing nervously still, but significantly less so than he had that morning. “Harry. Is everything alright?”

“Yea. Yea, it’s fine. It’s just that Snape is back. I was told by dad that if I had any problems that I needed to tell you.”

“Will it be a problem?”

“If he keeps Dad’s, Sirius’ and Mom’s names out of his mouth and doesn’t single me out, then no.” Harry cleared his throat. “How was the first class?”

“Well, they’re paying attention to me. I’m sure that’s something.” Harry gave him a softer smile. 

“That’s great. I think you’ll be awesome.” His smile became easy as Harry said goodbye and walked to his next class. The next time he was able to see Remus was when he took a tray from lunch and made his way to his classroom. “Mind if I eat here?” Remus brightened as he ran a hand through his hair. 

“No, yea, come on.” Harry grinned as he set himself up next to Remus. The doorway darkened for a moment and they both looked up to see Sirius in the way. Remus smiled widely. “Come here to learn about history?” Remus joked.

“As long as it’s your history and there’s an oral exam.” Harry gagged around his chicken sandwich, which seemed to clue Sirius in on the fact that he was even in the room. Together, they all ate. Someone was walking through the hall so they all looked up just as Snape walked past. 

“Why’s he back?” Sirius asked around his mouthful. 

“Family emergency is over?” Remus offered and Sirius shrugged.

“Think he tried to do black magic to raise the dead?” Sirius asked. 

“Dad never explained,” Harry started. “What’s the deal with him and Mom?”

Sirius swallowed the food, clearing his throat. “I don’t think James will mind if I tell you. He and your mom grew up together. He was like, super in love with Lily, but she saw them as just friends. Then she met James as fell in love and Snape hated him ever since. He said that Lily only liked James because he was popular and if they were friends, she would stop talking to James. She didn’t like that he was trying to control her, so she not so kindly told him to shove off and stopped talking to him. There were other things, but i was too distracted to actually pay attention aside from the drama.” Harry nodded, thinking hard about what he’d just learned. Why wouldn’t James just say that in the first place?


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse. I've just been not writing for a long time. I'm gonna try to get into it again so that means more updates and more other fics. I've been getting into other fandoms, so I'll probably be stretching out to those as well. Watch for it, I guess.

When Harry walked into art a note was on the table in front of the seat that he usually parked himself. He thought of brushing it off but curiosity became too tempting. It was folded in half over and over again until it was small enough to fit in his palm. Harry looked around looking for the source, but nothing seemed to stick out. Opening it, he saw a simple sentence, just four words that made his heart skip a beat.  _ I know your secret. _ He pressed his lips together, thinking. This couldn’t possibly be for him. Maybe someone from the previous class? They left it and he just happened to find it. Draco walked in and sat down. 

“Love letter?” He asked, noticing the paper he held. Mechanically, Harry passed it over. Draco was silent long enough for Hermione to walk in and look at them questionably. “It can’t be for you.” He handed it to Hermione without looking. “What secret anyways?”

Harry punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You know damn well i only have one secret i actually care about.” He rubbed his arm, sullen.

“It can’t be for you, Harry. It was a mix up.”

“It was at my seat specifically in the class i was at.”

“so? “ Hermione reasoned. “Eight other students sit there during the day. It could be to literally anyone. It could even be to Draco and they mixed the seats.” Draco looked at her as if she was personally threatening him to which she gave a simple shrug. “It’s possible. Best not to let it get to you. Give it to Remus- sorry, Mr. Lupin, later.”

“Are you kidding?” Harry snapped. “He’ll tell my dad that i’m being threatened and if my dad knows, Sirius will know and he’ll probably go crazy on this school trying to figure out who is trying to bring harm to his little nephew.” Harry waved his hands sarcastically as he spoke. “I’ rather be known for what I’m known as now. Crazy and probably homeless, probably not. I don’t want a crazy uncle as well. Knowing my luck he’d get himself banned from the school. We can’t have that. Remus is the only thing really keeping him sane at this point.” Hermione sighed as class started. 

At the end of the day, He and Draco waited for Remus in the hallway right inside the front door. There was a shuffling beside him before a gloved hand laced through his own. He looked down to see Draco had put on his glove so that he could touch Harry. “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry.” Harry gave as best a smile as he could in the situation. At footsteps, Harry looked back to see a flustered Remus walking quickly. 

“Hope you didn’t have to wait long,” He said as he met with them. Harry shook his head and smiled as they followed him out the door. Harry stuck behind a bit, throwing the note in the garbage. There was really no point in dwelling on it.

They had to stop at a store for Remus so Harry got out of the car as well. He wrapped the jacket tighter around him to fight off the cold. Looking at the side of the store, he saw a peculiar looking girl in front of the woods. She was crouched close to the ground and wasn’t wearing a jacket. Harry walked up to her. “Are you okay?” She looked younger than him and he had a faint inkling that he knew her already.

“Oh, yes.”

“It’s cold out here.”

“Astutely observed,” she said in a dreamy sort of voice like she was only half paying attention. It was almost childlike in sound

“You don’t have a jacket.”

“No,” She drawled. “It was taken. Students around me like to play tricks sometimes. It’ll turn up again sooner or later.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t sure what else could be spoken about the subject. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“Appeasing the fae, hopefully. They like sweets, but all I have are honey drops.”

“Fae?” 

“Daddy says it’s a bad idea,” She continued as if he had never even spoken. “You’re not supposed to acknowledge the fae. They are rather tricky pranksters. Wouldn’t that get lonely, though? I know if I were a fae, I’d want to make friends with humans.” It clicked where Harry had seen this girl before. 

“You were at the Halloween dance, weren’t you? The-” he snapped his fingers looking for the right words to describe it. “The gears and cogs.” She looked up at him with a dreamy expression in her silver eyes. 

“Yes, that was me. You were there too. You were a pig. Farm animals are majorly unappreciated, so i think you should have won.” He was about to protest her ideals saying that it wasn’t his idea, but it was already time to go. He climbed into the car, that whole weird conversation stuck in his mind.

Harry perked up as they came closer to home when he noticed a car in the driveway he didn’t recognize. He looked at Draco, who also shrugged. They walked in tentatively, Harry noticing new people in the living room. One girl had bubblegum pink hair and was in the middle of telling a story to a beautiful blonde as she waved her arms around animatedly. As the door closed, she looked up and a large smile crossed her face. “So you’re Harry?” He nodded stiffly. She stood and Harry took a step back. “Don’t worry. Your father explained that you don’t like touching. I’m not gonna hurt you or anything.”

“Nymphadora, sweetie. Who are you-” a woman walked into the room and Harry felt a tight grip on his arm. Suddenly, he was jerked and was behind Draco, whose whole body was rigid. The woman had wildly curly brown hair and sharp features that had an edge of softness to them. “Ah. You must be Draco then?” She mentioned. “We’ve never met. My-” She waved vaguely, “sisters… would have rather it stayed that way I suppose. I refused to go for the arranged marriage, after all. Ruining the family name and all that.” She cleared her throat before walking up and sticking her hand out. “Andromeda. Your aunt.” She pointed to the pink haired girl. “That’s Nymphadora, my daughter, and Fleur, her girlfriend.” Harry perked up at that. 

“Girlfriend?”

“Been dating for about a year, so yea.” Harry smiled softly; he liked her already.

James and Regulus came down the stairs a few minutes later. “Good, you guys are here. We have to talk. These three, as you’ve met them, are going to stay here. If that’s okay with you guys. We figured that if you said yes, we can clean out the basement. We’ll move Remus’ books to his room-Sirius suggested it, Remus, don’t look so offended- and help them move into it.”

“I don’t have a problem,” Harry mentioned. Draco nodded as well. Everyone looked at Remus next. 

“Why do I feel like I’m being singled out? I don’t have a problem.”

James hummed at them and looked at the newest people. “We’ll start cleaning out the basement after dinner.”

* * *

When Harry and Draco walked down with Fleur and Dora, James turned to Andromeda. “You sure being here was a good idea?”

“We didn’t have any other options, James. If we did, we wouldn’t have come. We only came after they threatened Nymphadora’s life. Before that, I wouldn’t have cared. Is it safe for that boy to be here?”

“Who, Draco?”

“I know who his mother is. And my other sister. Is it a good idea?”

“He’s here for the same reason you are. Sanctuary. When his father found out that he liked boys, his mother sent him here. His father’s plan was to beat the kid straight. He’d already had a black eye from that bastard’s cane.”

“So you talked to her? Narcissa?”

“Yes, briefly. She just filled me in on why he was here. Everything that his father had planned, Draco wouldn’t have come out unscathed, if living at all.” She nodded shortly.

“So she still cares.”

“For her son, at least.” He opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly forgot as he heard Harry calling up the stairs. 

“Hey, Dad!” James and Andromeda walked to the basement door. “Did you know there was a bookshelf attached to the wall here? We pulled it away and there’s a room behind it.” He sounded excited. “Can we go look?”

“Wait until I’m down there with you.” Harry made a whining noise. “I mean it.”

“Alright. But hurry up! This is super cool it goes really far down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short. The next chapter will hopefully be much longer. There are going to be plot lines that I'm going to work hard on keeping in mind, so it would be a great help if you commented and told me anything from past chapters that I'm forgetting or what you would want to see going further into the story.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was a huge delay. I'm so sorry. I've been dealing with depression and lack of inspiration, but I'm getting back on track. I've been getting into other fandoms band broadening my scope of things I like, so I'm gonna write in other fandoms as well as this one. Some may have noticed that I've made it into a series. I've decided that I'm going to cut this story into three parts so it's easier on me mentally. So I'll end this one with this year, year 2 and three will be their own story, and year four and the ending will be their own story. I hope this makes sense and that you're patient with me through this process.

In the basement Harry was bouncing from foot to foot with excitement. James sighed as he walked down, seeing everyone surrounding a hole in the wall. He gave Harry, Nymphadora, and Sirius a flashlight. He kept one for himself. “I’m not going down there,” Andromeda complained for a moment before sweeping over to a chair and sitting. “I’ll wait here.” Regulus nodded, sitting next to her before James sighed.

“Okay. If we’re not back in 10 minutes, we’ve been kidnapped by a crazy cult and have been sacrificed to the rats.” She laughed softly. “Okay, go ahead. Watch your step.”

Harry immediately grabbed Draco’s hand and pulled him down the stairs causing him to yelp. James soon followed seeing Harry looking around with his flashlight. There were boxes covered in dust everywhere and some furniture covered in sheets like old movies. “Did you know this was down here when you bought the place?” Nymphadora asked, covering her mouth and nose from the dust. 

“No. It wasn’t even in the blueprints.” Harry walked over to the first box, blowing off the dust before opening it. He deflated slightly, his shoulders sagging. 

“It’s just papers.” Sirius walked over as Harry went over to another box. James crouched next to Sirius. 

“I think it’s just finances.”

“For what though?” He picked up a paper carefully. There were various numbers typed on it from what he thought looked like a typewriter. Harry exclaimed so he looked up as Draco lifted up a bottle of something. Harry reached for it and was trying to open it before James snapped at him. “You don’t know what’s in that. You open that and you go upstairs now.” His shoulders sagged again.

“This box and the one before is full of these bottles.” James looked back at the box of papers. He looked at Sirius whose lips were pressed into a thin line. 

“Look in the other boxes.” Sirius did, as well as Nymphadora, Fleur, Remus, Harry, and Draco. Harry found another box of the liquid and a box of old toys. Fleur found a chest that she didn’t want to touch and Nymphadora found old photo books. Draco was the one who found a distillery and Sirius found a box of old clothes. Remus looked in the last box, which contained old looking jewelry. James groaned as he stood, straightening his back. “Seems like whoever owned this house was in charge of a bootlegging operation.”

“What’s that mean?”

“They were making and selling alcohol when it was illegal.” James looked at his son, who looked around in amazement. “We should get that jewelry looked at. As well as the rest of this, but that can wait a bit.”

“Can I go?” Harry asked. “I wanna go.” James nodded. Harry looked at Draco, who looked at James. 

“Yes, you can go, too.” Harry pulled the blonde up the stairs again. 

“I’ll go, too.” Sirius started, groaning. When he’s this excitable, he’s a lot to deal with.”

“I think I’ll stay and look into everything. Find what I can about the papers.” Remus trailed off. 

“Alright. Call me if you need anything. In the meantime, you could help them get their stuff inside and in the basement so it’s not just sitting outside.” Remus nodded.

* * *

 

Harry was looking around the pawn shop. He’d never been here before. They’d been all over town, but he’d never entered this building. There were things all over the walls and in cases and some things in the way on the floor that he had to move around. “Wait here,” James mentioned once inside. He’d talked to the man about looking at the jewelry. “I’ll go get the box.” Harry nodded, turning back to look at everything. The parking lot was on the other side of the road, so it would be a minute. Harry walked over to the wall of instruments. 

He jumped when he heard a voice. “What is someone like you doing here?” He snapped around to see long blonde hair. “Shouldn’t you be turning your fellow students gay or something?”

Lucius Malfoy seethed at him, looking down at him. “I haven’t turned anyone gay. If you were half as good a father as you claim you are, you’d see that.”

“You aren’t to talk to me like that, boy.” He snapped. 

“I’ll talk to you however I want. This is a free country after all.” He could almost hear Lucius grinding his teeth.

“You will regret that, welp.”

“As much as I regret talking to you? Hardly.” His hand went to Harry’s shoulder, tightening before he started to pull Harry. “Ow! Let me go!”

“I’ll teach you some manners, boy, just like your own father seems to lack the ability to.” Harry jerked away.

“Don’t talk about my dad like that, you creep.” Lucius lifted his cane and Harry flinched and there was a sound of impact, but he didn’t feel it. Harry looked up to see Sirius had grabbed his cane before it had made contact. Before any words could be shared, Sirius was in motion, punching Lucius in the face using his whole body for leverage. Harry just stood there in awe. He’d never seen Sirius argue more than with James, let alone punch someone. When Lucius was a crumpled mess on the ground and Sirius was standing over him, he turned to Harry. 

“You okay?” Harry nodded, stunned. “Let’s go.” He let Harry outside and down the road slightly to the coffee shop. “Let James deal with the stuff.” harry nodded as they walked up to the counter. “He’ll have chamomile tea, three sugars and a bit of honey.”

“Be generous with the honey.”  Harry said to the older woman behind the counter. Harry smiled at her, taking the warm glass in his colder hands. “Go sit down. I’ll go back to James and Draco.” Harry nodded and walked his way back into the shop, sitting down at a booth. 

He sipped on his tea for a moment before he looked at his shoulder. No bruising, good. His father wouldn’t have too much of a fit about it. He lifted his cup to drink again when he heard his name.

“Harry?” He looked up to see someone walking closer. 

“Oh, Neville.” He shifted and motioned towards the other side of the booth. “What are you doing here?”

“My family owns this place. My gran is the lady at the counter.” Harry nodded again. 

“What about your parents?” The air grew stiff with awkwardness. 

“They… I don’t live with them.”

“I’m sorry, Neville. I didn’t know.” Neville waved him off. 

“It’s okay.  So what are you doing here?” 

Harry took another drink. “Draco’s father was being a prick in the pawn shop. I was put here to wait for everyone else.” Neville leaned forward and put his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his palm. “Something about me turning everyone in school gay.” Harry shrugged and took another sip.

“He thinks he owns everything. It’s always been like that. That family pays for some of the properties in town so they just assume they own the place.”

“It was the same way where we lived before. Sirius’ family paid for almost everything in the town so everyone catered to them.” Neville nodded solemnly. 

“My gran didn’t take any of their BS and kicked him out one day so he tried to buy the place from under her. She had to go to court about it a few years back. If it wasn’t for her brother being a decent lawyer we would have lost it. Dumb rich people, he thought that him paying off the judge would have been enough, her brother requested a different judge. The one he requested didn’t take bribes so it was fair.”

Harry felt a scowl setting on his face. “That’s stupid. I hate when people think they own the place.”

“I mean, your boyfriend used to be the same way. His family paid for a bunch of things in the school, so no one ever put him in his place. He always hung out with awful people and was rude to everyone. If not for you, he probably still would be like that.”

“I don’t know about that. He could have changed. Eventually.”

“Eventually, after talking to the wrong person like he owns them and getting his lights clocked out.” Harry tried to laugh, but couldn't get out more than a light breath. 

The door opened again and Harry looked up to see his father walking in. He looked around, seeing Harry, and walked straight to him. 

“Are you okay? What happened? Did he hurt you? I swear to God if he hurt you-”

“I'm fine, dad. He just grabbed my shoulder. He couldn't do anything before Sirius decked him out.” James deflated calming down. 

“ Good. If Sirius didn't, I would have.” James nodded to himself. “Let's go. I paid for the stuff. Turns out we were right. It was from an old bootlegging operation, which is cool. The man also wants to see some of the stuff we have that we couldn't drag here. Hell do that later this week.”

* * *

 

Harry laid on his bed, Padfoot laying across his body, music flowing softly out of the speakers of his radio. His fingers were buried in Padfoots fur as the dog sighed over him. At times in winter like this, he wished Hedwig was an inside winter owl. He laughed at the thought. 

He was wearing a large baggy sweater that used to belong to his mother. She said that giant sweaters would always bring comfort and she was correct. It felt like he was drowning in it and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Padfoot let out a small whine so Harry looked down. “ What's wrong?” Padfoot’s eyes shifted to the doorway, where Draco was standing. Harry sat up and shifted so that he was leaning against the headboard. He motioned for Draco to walk forward, so he did, closing the door as he walked closer. 

Draco sat next to him on the bed. “Heard about my father,” he said after a moment. “I'm sorry.”

“It's not your fault,” Harry assured. And it wasn't. He didn't control his father. Harry scooted over so that Draco could sit next to him on the bed. “I'm glad you're not like him.” Draco tensed. 

“I… used to be. I used to be just like him. If I were any more of an asshole, I wouldn't have changed and you'd still hate me and I'd-” Harry leaned over, covering Draco's lips with his own. He hummed against Harry's lips and his shoulders settled. Harry didn't pull away even as his eyes closed. 

Carefully, Harry made his way closer, swinging his leg over Draco's without parting the kiss. Draco groaned against his lips, his hands hovering over Harry's hips. It took a moment before he decided to lay his hands softly on them, his fingers tangling in the baggy cloth of the sweater. 

Harry held Draco's shoulders, fisting the fabric of his shirt tightly. Harry felt Draco's hands petting his sides before diving under his sweater and undershirt. Harry shuddered at the contact. His hands scaled up his back and down his sides, up his front, stopping at his ribs. 

He paused before starting to slide back down, petting Harry's belly. On Draco's next swipe up, he moved up a bit higher before retreating, then next a bit higher until he was right under Harry's chest. 

“Tell me to stop.” Draco mumbled into his lips. Harry could feel the hard press of heat between his legs from Draco. 

“Don't stop.” Draco let out a shuddered moan, pressing his hands against the curve of Harry's chest. One hand went down, holding Harry's hip again, while the other raised, softly laying his hand against Harry's chest. When his fingers moved, dancing around the sensitive edge of his chest, Harry moaned out, his hips jerking forward. Draco groaned, gripping his hip, jerking him forward. 

Warmth flooded Harry's hips, his belly flipping wildly as he buried his hands into Draco's hair. He ground his hips against the solid heat and Draco let out a broken moan. “Fu-uck.”

Heat curled in Harry's gut. He wished, more than anything at this point that he was born with the parts he needed for this. Draco's hands fell to his hips, gripping tightly as Harry shifted his hips. Draco shifted his body down and started to jerk his hips up to meet Harry's.

“Sorry,” he mumbled but Harry shook his head. 

“Keep going.” Draco groaned out another expletive as he shoved his hips up, anchoring Harry to his hips. Harry felt Draco twitch before collapsing onto the bed. After a moment, Draco groaned. 

“Are you-”

“You should clean that up,” Harry interrupted. “It's probably uncomfortable.” Draco nodded, climbing his way off the bed and walking out the door. When the door was closed, Harry groaned and flopped back to his bed, a smile warming his cheeks. That was…

As Harry thought about all the heat and movement, he couldn't help but feel his cheeks get warmer. Harry turned out his light before laying on his bed and stripping to his underwear. He'd be thinking about this for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I felt like this was a good place to stop. I hope you like it. This scene felt weird writing it for some reason, probably because I haven't written in quite some time.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like it, hate it, or just want to talk about it, comment. I hope you enjoy :)


End file.
